
By 



MK/ HQIil^&iait^EWYORS 



THE GREAT 
AMERICAN WARS. 

TOLD FOR YOUNG FOLKS, 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, 

ROUSSELET'S DRUIVIIVIER BOY. 

A story of a boy of the French Auxiliary Army in 
the American Revolution. By Louis Rous- 
SELET. Translated by W. J. GORDON. With 
12 full page illustiations and numerous others 
throughout the text. i2mo. 

THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 

THOMAS'S CAPTAIN PHIL. 

A Boy's experience in the Western Army during 
the War of the Rebellion. By M. M. Thomas. 
With II full page illustrations. i2mo. 

CHAIVIPLIN'S YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY 
OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 

By John D. Champlin, Jr. Author of the 
Young Folks' Cyclopaedia, etc. Copiously illus- 
trated with Maps, Plans of Battles, Portraits, 
Views and Pictures of special objects of interest. 
Large i2mo. 



HENRY HOLT & CO., PuMishers, 



CAPTAIN PHIL 



A BOY'S EXPERIENCE IN THE WESTERN ARMY 
DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, 



M^^MTTHOMAS 





/ V 






NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 

1884 






Copyright, 1884, 

BY 

Henry Holt & Co. 



W. L. Mershon & Co., 

Printers and ElectroiyJ>crs^ 

Rahway, N. J. 



TO MY NEPHEWS, 

GEORGE W. THOxMAS and SAMUEL L. CORWINE, 

I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK, 

With the hope that they may always be animated by the love of Country, 
which characterized 

CAPTAIN PHIL, 
Clover Hill, March i, 1866. 



PREFACE. 



IT is with some anxiety, and considerable hesitation, 
that I offer this volume to my young friends and the 
public. Almost every incident is a real experience ; the 
dates, battles and marches, are matters of history. Faulty 
and incomplete as it is, yet it is very dear to me, for my 
heart has been in every line as I have written. If its 
reading help but one boy to love right, and hate wrong, 
and to hold his country and its institutions firmer in his 
heart, next to his God, I shall be satisfied and thankful. 

Clover Hill, March, 1866. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

HOW I WENT TO THE WAR. 

Attack on Sumter. — Family History. — A Fight at School.... I 

CHAPTER n. 

THE DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST TROOPS. 

The March to the Depot. — The First Night in Camp. — Joseph. lO 
CHAPTER in. 

LIFE IN CAMP. 

The Uniform. — Joseph Dismissed. — r\Iarching through Balti- 
more 17 

CHAPTER IV. 

AT WASHINGTON. 

The Death of Ellsworth. — The President's Levee. — A Visit to 

Alexandria 24 

CHAPTER V. 

A DAY AT THE CAMPS. 

Washington in a State of Siege. — The Return of the Seventh 

Regiment. — The Zouave Camp 31 

CHAPTER VI. 

A DAY AT THE CAMPS— CONTINUED. 

Exploits of the Zouaves. — Evening Service of the Rhode 

Islanders. — Concert 39 

CHAPTER VII. 

FORWARD. — A NEW CAMP. 

Contrabands. — Vivandieres. — An Ambush 45 



{[ CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER VIII. 

IN THE VAN OF THE ARMY. 

Picket Duty.— The Fight at Vienna.— Foraging 55 

CHAPTER IX. 

HOW I BECAME A PRISONER 

The Surprise. — Disguised. — In Camp Again 62 

CHAPTER X. 

AMUSEMENTS IN CAMP. 

On Guard in a Storm. — A Scouting Expedition. — Writing 

Home 78 

CHAPTER XI. 

BEFORE BULL RUN. 

The Advance. — Centerville Occupied. — A Skirmish 86 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE BATTLE OF STONE BRIDGE, OR BULL RUN. 

Charge of the Black Horse Cavalry. — Pursuit of the Zouaves, — 

Panic. — Retreat to Washington 97 

CHAPTER XIII. 

GOING HOME. 

Washington after the Battle. — McClellan Summoned to the 

Command. — A Reception 108 

CHAPTER XIV. 

WESTERN VIRGINIA. 

With General Rosecrans' Division. — The Pursuit of Floyd. 

— The Engagement at McCoy's Mills 115 

CHAPTER XV. 

FROM LOUISVILLE TO NASHVILLE. — AFTER BUCKNER. 

At Green River. — Battle of Somerset. — The March to 
Bowling Green. — Loomis's Battery. — Buckner Taken 
Prisoner 123 



CONTENTS. iii 

CHAPTER XVI. 

NASHVILLE AND PITTSBURGH LANDING. 

General Nelson Reaches Nashville. — Reinforcing General 
Grant. — The Battle of Shiloh. — The Evacuation of Corinth. 
— The Pursuit of Bragg. — Kirby bmith in Kentucky. — 
Martial Law Proclaimed in Cincinnati. — Retreat of the 
Rebels. — General Bragg Threatens Louisville 133 

CHAPTER XVIL 

THE CHASE AFTER BRAGG- 

The Battle of Perryville. — Going Over Salt River. — Bragg's 

Escape. — In Nashville. — Buell Succeeded by Rosecrans. . 144 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

MURFREESBORO'. 

The March to Murfreesboro'. — The Battle. — Retreat of the 

Enemy 150 



CHAPTER XIX. 

AFTER THE BATTLE. 

Frank Martin. — Women in the Army. — The Color Guard. . . . 162 
CHAPTER XX. 

CONTRABANDS IN CAMP. 

Christmas in Camp. — Freedom. — Fetish 171 

CHAPTER XXI. 

IN CAMP AT murfreesboro'. 

A Spy. — Boys in the Army. — Seizing Horses 183 

CHAPTER XXII. 

MARCHING ON. 

The Fight at Shelby ville. — -The Occupation of TuUahoma. — 
Braggs Retreat. — Across the Tennessee. — The Capture of 
Chattanooga 192 



iv. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

CHICKAMAUGA. 

The Battle of Chickamauga. — General Thomas's Victory. — 
General Garfield's Exploit. — Johnny Clem. — Military 
Operations in Three States at Once 199 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

CHATTANOOGA. 

A State of Siege. — Grant in Command. — General Sherman's 
Arrival. — The Battle Above the Clouds. — Pulpit Rock. 
— Storming of Mission Ridge 215 

CHAPTER XXV. 

AT CHATTANOOGA. — IN WINTER QUARTERS. 

Getting Supplies up the River. — Grant in Command of the 
Army. — Sherman Commander of the Department of the 
Mississippi 229 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

ROCKY FACE. — RESACA. 

The Rebels at Buzzard's Gap. — The Assault of Rocky Face 
Ridge. — Johnston Withdraws to Resaca. — The Battle of 
Resaca. — The Pursuit of the Rebels. — Johnston Crosses 
the Etowah 256 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

KENESAW MOUNTAIN. 

Allataona Pass. — Death of General Polk. — The Siege of Kene- 

saw. — The Attack.— The Rebels Evacuate Kenesaw 269 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHIE. 

The Battle of Nickajack Creek. — The March to Atlanta. — 
Hood Supersedes Johnston. — Battle of Peach Tree Creek. 
— Death of General McPherson. — Battle of Ezra's Church. 
— The Siege of Atlanta. — Capture of Atlanta 274 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

BEFORE ATLANTA. 

The Flitting. — Burning of the City. — Living in Caves 286 



CONTENTS. V. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

FROM ATLANTA TO SAVANNAH. 

Leaving Atlanta. — Surrender of Milledgeville. — Contrabands. 
— Crossing the Ogeechee. — Millen Prison Pen. — Crossing 
Ebenezer Creek. — Savannah Invested 292 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE CAROLINAS.— HOME. 

Capture of Fort Mc Allister. — Surrender of Savannah.— 
Preparations for the March. — In Camp at Beaufort 
and Pocotaligo. — The March up the Savannah. — Through 
South Carolina. — Crossing the Big and Little Salkehatchie. 
— Crossing the South and North Edisto. — Burning of 
Orangeburg. — Battle of Congaree Creek.— Crossing the 
Saluda and Broad Rivers. — Entering Columbia- — Burning 
Columbia. — Caring for the Destitute. — Crossi g the 
Wateree. — Bridging Lynch Creek. — In the North State. 
— Entering Fayetteville. — Fight at Averysboro'. — Battle 
of Bentonville. — Meeting of the Armies at Goldsboro'. — 
Lee's Surrender. — President Lincoln's Murder. — Johnston's 
Surrender. — Passing Through Richmond. — In Washington. 
— The Review 323 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

The Departure. 12 

Mobbing TH^ Pie-Man . 38 

Clary 47 

The Return 112 

Possum .125 

The Parting 204 

Murdoch Reciting to the Soldiers. . . . . 216 

Refugees 289 

Sacking of Madison 306 

" OLE Mars." 320 

*' A Figure." 348. 



CAPTAIN PHIL. 



CHAPTER I. 

HOW I WENT TO THE WAR. 

SUMTER had been attacked — we knew that. I sat in 
• our room waiting my brother's return ; he had gone 
down town to get the latest accounts by the night's tele- 
graph. 

Eleven — twelve — one o'clock struck. He did not come. 
I went to bed but was unable to sleep, excited by expect- 
ation and his long absence. I arose again, and opening 
the window gazed out. The night was cool, but the air 
was pleasant to me. There was no one in sight, and a 
dumb silence seemed to pervade the city. 

I was picturing Anderson and his little band in their 
island fortress, and longing, with a boy's eager, impatient 
desire, to be with them ; my heart throbbing and my 
breath coming quickly, as in imagination I saw the flash, 
and heard the boom of the cannon. 

There were footsteps ; near, nearer they approached, 
with a dull, heavy tread. I listened, looked out, saw 
three men coming up the street. Soon they were under 
the window, and paused at the door, speaking in low 
tones. 

" Then you do not think Anderson a traitor ? " 

" I would answer for him almost with my life," was the 
reply, in my brother's voice. '' We," he added, applying 



2 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

his night-key to the door, " will soon have times to try us 
all" 

*^God help the right ! " was the rejoinder. 

Anderson suspected of being a traitor ? What could 
have happened ? Suddenly turning cold, I drew down 
the window, and, facing the door, awaited my brother's 
entrance. He came up the stairs slowly, with a heavy 
tread. As soon as I saw his face I knew, ere he spoke, 
what he would say. 

'' Philip, my boy, Sumter has fallen ! " 

A heavy weight was at my heart, a choking in my 
throat, a swelling tide welled to my eyes ; I could not 
help it, I sobbed aloud, covering my face with shame as I 
did so. For a minute or two my brother walked the floor 
without speaking ; then, coming near, he put his arm 
about me and said tenderly : '' God knows I envy you 
these tears, I should feel better if I could cry." 

I had been ill, and for many weary months confined to 
my room. During that time how much had I heard, read 
and talked of Sumter, how much had I heard others 
talk! 

Upon the mantel shelf was a model of Sumter which 
Capt. Schott had helped me to make as I sat in bed 
propped by pillows. How many lonely hours had I 
beguiled in carving and mounting the miniature cannon 
— how had I boasted of Sumter's strength, and scoffed 
at the idea of South Carolina doing it harm — and now — 
it had surrendered ! 

Should I live to be an old man I shall never forget the 
stinging pain of those moments — fierce indignation, 
pride, shame, anger, a crushing of hope, a thirst for 
revenge, tugged at my boy's heart and found relief in 
those bitter tears. 

Ashamed of them as unmanly, I quickly subdued them, 



HO W I WENT TO THE WAR. 3 

and recovered myself ; seeking to hide my emotion by 
asking question after question of my brother, which he 
answered, as he prepared for bed, in that deep tone which 
told how much he was moved. 

Afterwards I heard the story of the brave seventy. I 
was all aglow when John read of their heroism, the 
dauntless bravery with which they had held out. When 
the account described the surrender, how they saluted and 
paid honors to the grand old flag ere they passed from 
the fort, I could not contain myself. Snatching Sumter 
from the mantel shelf and hugging it to my heart, I 
kissed our country's colors which hung there again and 
again. Burning to be a man, I upbraided nature that I 
was still a boy. My brother smiled in a troubled way at 
my enthusiasm, and said : 

^' We may have to leave all to defend that flag yet, 
Phil. The whole country must acknowledge its power." 

To which I replied, '' I am ready ; I can do something." 

^' Yes, you might make a powder monkey." 

That night I had little sleep; I passed it in restless toss- 
ings, with now and then a question w^hen I knew John 
to be awake. 

At dawn I slept soundly, and when aroused by the 
breakfast bell found my brother dressed and sitting at 
the window reading the newspaper. There was nothing 
to add to what I had already heard. 

After breakfast he went to his business. I was to have 
re-entered school that day, but it rained heavily, and my 
going out was deferred until the morrow. I spent the 
morning taking the guns out of Sumter, and again replac- 
. ing them ; in thinking over what I had heard, and, by 
the aid of my mimic fort, going over the scene of the 
bombardmente Our landlady, w^ho had been most kind 
to me in my illness — attending me through the day in my 



4 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

brother's absence — came in, and talked over the probabil- 
ities of a war, sighing heavily as she did so, for she had 
lost her father in that with Mexico. 

John came to dinner. As there were a few additional 
particulars to be discussed, the gentlemen sat long at 
table. Again they left for their places of business, and 
night took them to the several newspaper offices to hear 
the despatches — so that Monday ended. 

I had just passed my fourteenth birthday. My father died 
when I was eight years of age, and four years later my 
mother joined him. On her death-bed she gave me, with 
many solemn charges, into my brother's keeping. 

I wish I could describe my brother John to you — he is 
so good and kind and brave and handsome. He is over 
thirty years of age, and was, when the war broke out, chief 
clerk in a large wholesale house. We are alone in the 
world. He is everything to me. 

Our father was a Massachusetts man, and our mother 
a Southerner ; but we were born in the West. My grand- 
father was one of the minute men of the Revolution. He 
lived on the road between Lexington and Concord, and 
was aroused from his sleep on the night of the memor- 
able 1 8th of April, 1775, by the tread of an armed force 
passing his dwelling. 

He saw the " Red Coats " and guessed their errand. 
Snatching his gun he passed through his back door, 
crossed the fields, calling up his neighbors by the way, 
and, accompanied by them, took a bridle path which by 
a short cut conducted them to Lexington, reaching it in 
time to warn the militia of the approach of the foe. He 
was one of those who drove the British soldiery back in 
their retreat over the same road. 

My grandmother, seeing the British coming,, took her 
youngest child in her arms, the other clinging to her 



HOW I WENT TO THE WAR. 5 

skirts, and started through the fields to a neighbor's for 
safety. They saw her running and fired upon her, the 
ball from one of their -pieces going through the high 
crown of her cap. She, however, escaped unharmed. 
After destroying all they could they set fire to the house. 
My father's uncle edited a paper at Worcester at that 
time, and the British set a price on his head, but he man- 
aged, notwithstanding, to keep it on his shoulders. 

These and many other incidents in the early history of 
our. country in which our family bore an humble part, my 
brother was wont, with pride and pleasure, to relate to 
me. His love of country was intense ; he gloried as our 
father had in THE UNION. 

The next morning I went to school for the first time in 
many months. Of course all our talk was of Sumter. 
Many a taunt had we to hear from the Southern boys, 
who jeered and laughed at its fall. I found the school 
nearly equally divided. 

James Fontaine, a Mississippian, who for his bullying 
propensities we had named " South Carolina," was at the 
head of a set who glorified the South in everything ; 
while his cousins, of the same State, took sides with the 
"Yankees." Since the fall of Sumter James had been 
unbearable, and that morning, for my benefit, was especi- 
ally insolent and defiant. In study hours he drew on a 
slate a pack of lean hungry dogs, led on by a miserable 
cur, and labeling it "Anderson's Brigade," passed it 
round for scoff and comment. 

I felt humiliated enough, and trembled so with passion 
I could hardly hold my book, or keep quiet until recess. 

I stopped in the school-room for a while to speak to 
the teachers, and when I reached the play ground I 
found that Fontaine had formed a scarecrow of straw 
and paper, which he had placed against the wall with a 



6 CAPTAIN PHiL 

flag in its hand, made and painted by him in school- 
hours. Yelling '^ down with the flag and Anderson the 
traitor," he urged his party to stone it. 

Charley Thornley was a quiet fellow. He had stood 
this insult as long as he could. Now walking up to the 
figure he placed himself beside it, and seizing the flag, 
waved it above his head, and called out : " The boy who 
throws at this hits me, and must take the consequences." 

With a huzza I sprang to his side, giving the scare- 
crow a kick that sent it flying. " Stand back, Phil," 
Charley said, ^^ this is my fight." 

As they all knew that Charley was a cool, resolute fel- 
low, for a moment there was no movement among them, 
but presently ''' South Carolina " let fly, and struck him 
on the head. " Keep your distance all," Charley shouted, 
his eyes flashing as he grappled with the Southerner. We 
stood in silence waiting the mastery, for they were nearly 
matched. Charley got it, and throwing the braggart over 
one leg, he confined his feet with the other, tucked his' 
head under his arm, and seizing a cricket-bat near, 
spanked him soundly. Such a shout ! It made the walls 
ring, and quickly brought out Mr. Thatcher, one of the 
teachers, to inquire what was the matter. He 
reprimanded and ordered us in, but I saw the smile en 
his face as he turned away. 

When dismissed we met in the play ground, and started 
a subscription for a flag, for we were determined that the 
Stars and Stripes should stream above the school house 
ere another day had passed. The secesh party were 
silent and sullen. The disgrace of their leader was the 
more bitter as the story got wind and the boys in the 
streets when they met one of them would make a pecu- 
liar and contemptuous gesture, accompanied by a pro- 
longed whoop. 



HO W I WENT TO THE PVAR, 7 

John did not come home to dinner. I had taken my 
tea, and was in our room studying my Latin lesson when 
he came in ; he did not stop below but came straightway 
to our chamber and closed the door after him.- 

'' How did school go to-day, Phil ? " 

He stood beside me and put his hand on my head. 
''Pretty well," I replied, and was about telling him what 
had happened, when he walked to the window and 
drummed on the glass. I saw he was deep in thought. 
Turning suddenly he said : 

" Philip, there is to be war. The President has made 
a requisition for troops and I am going." 

I made an exclamation, saying, '^ You will take me with 
you ? " 

^' That is the trouble, my boy," and drawing me towards 
him, he added, ''you are not old enough to be a soldier. 
I may be killed, then what will become of you ? " 

'' I must go," I said passionately, *' I must be with you ; 
I cannot stay behind." 

'' Impossible ! Suppose you should get sick ; you are 
not strong now. You must stay here and do just as you 
would if I were with you." 

'^ I will not stay," I sobbed, '' I cannot ; I am strong 
enough now ; you promised mother we should not be sep- 
arated." 

" That is it," he said, sadly. '^ I feel it my duty to go; 
my father would have expected it of me, but to leave 
you, Phil — and you cannot join the arm.y." 

'^ Yes, I can ; I am small of my age but I can be a drum- 
mer-boy ; I drum quite well. Or I can go to wait on 
you." 

" Do not add to my perplexities, Philip," was his only 
answer. He turned to the window and stood looking into 
the street. 



8 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

A knock at the door startled us. 

" Come in.'* 

Dr. Grey, a friend of John's, and our physician, entered. 
After a word to me, he spoke to John of the President's 
proclamation, of the enthusiasm of the people, and the 
prospect of a regiment being off in a day or two. John 
informed him of his determination, and of his concern 
as to myself. 

" Can't I go with him, Dr. Grey ? " I interrupted. " I 
am well and strong now." — The probability of being left 
behind overcame me, I choked — stammered — stopped. 

The doctor lowered his head in thought for a moment, 
then drawing me to him made an examination of my con- 
dition, thumped and jerked me, asked questions, criti- 
cised my teeth, looked at my tongue, shook me, then 
turning to John, said : 

^^ I do not know that you could do better than to take 
him with you." 

" How ? " 

" As camp follower — waiter — errand boy, any thing you 
will. Seriously, it could be easily arranged ; there is no 
doubt Mr. B. will be colonel of the regiment ; he is a life- 
long friend, and knows how you are situated. I really 
think that, with common precaution, camp life would 
physically be of great service to Phil." 

** I can drum," I interrupted ; " Charlie Greg is drum- 
mer for the Grays, and he is neither so large nor so old 
as I am." 

The doctor laughed, eying me keenly the while. 
** They will have noise enough without your assistance, 
Phil. Drumming is not exactly what you need." 

" The example, Grey ; the loose morality, the tempta- 
tions of a camp life, their effect on the character of one 
so young " — observed my brother. 



HOW I WEXT TO THE WAR, 9 

'' He will have your example, there, which he would be 
deprived of here, in this large city where there are quite 
as many temptations. With you he would have an expe- 
rience, and an opportunity of learning what is not to be 
gained from books ; in short, if he were my brother, he 
should accompany me." 

I could have caught the doctor and hugged him, but I 
stood still holding my breath — watching John's face, and 
waiting his decision. 

He took a turn across the floor, walked to the window 
and looked out for a second, then, with a great sigh, as 
though relieved, turned to me and said : 

'' I suppose it will be as good an arrangement as I can 
make, and if I can get permission you may go soldiering 
with me, Phil." 

I sprang to him and threw my arms around him. I 
stumbled over the doctor's outstretched legs as I dashed 
through the door, leaped down stairs, and, rushing into 
the street, relieved myself by loud huzzas which brought 
the boys round me, I triumphantly told them that I was 
going to the war. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST TROOPS. 

THE following days were busy ones. John enlisted, and 
as he had no trouble about me, he made every ar- 
rangement to go with the first regiment leaving the State. 
His employers made him some handsome presents, and 
told him his situation would be open to him on his return. 
The next morning I went to the armory with him to see 
the men drill. The company was an old one, and the 
ranks were fast filling with new recruits. They expected 
to be off in twenty-four hours, and would be uniformed 
in camp or at the Capital. 

I spent most of the day at the drill room, going through 
the exercises as the men went through them, or running 
errands for John. The city was all excitement, the 
streets full of men moving to and fro in eager haste, or 
standing about the recruiting ofiices; and even the wom.en 
could not wait at home, but came out to see what was 
going on. 

I felt the importance of my position, and I dashed in 
and out, only stopping to tell any acquaintance I chanced 
to meet, that my brother and I were going to the war ; 
fully enjoying the astonishment and envy of my school- 
mates. 

Our last night in the city was spent at the armory, 
where squads were drilling all night, for we were to 
leave at six in the morning. Towards midnight the 
company was visited by several clergymen, who gave 



THE DEPARTURE OE THE FIRST TROOPS. II 

short addresses, sang a hymn, made a prayer, and pre- 
sented each one with a Bible. The devotions over, I 
heard a man say, "I feel set apart for the work now.'* 
John came to me and bade me go into the office of his 

friend, Mr. B , which adjoined the armory, and sleep 

on the sofa. He said he had packed a carpet-bag with 
all the wardrobe I could carry, .nd would call me in 
time. I slept soundly, and was awakened by his shaking 
me. I was quickly on my feet, and with pride and 
pleasure belted down the gray flannel shirt he had pro- 
vided, finished my toilet by using the lawyer's basin and 
brushes, then hastened to the armory, where the men in 
high spirits waited the word of command. Lieutenant 

G was an intimate friend of John's, and by his side I 

was to march, John being in the ranks before me. The 
word given, the men filed out, filled the street, and 
marched to the place of rendezvous, where other com- 
panies fell in ; and in order, attended by the escort, we 
took our way to the cars. 

Although so early in the morning, the streets were 
crowded with people the whole line of our way ; the side- 
walks, steps, stoops, windows, were alive with human 
beings ; hands waved handkerchiefs and threw bouquets ; 
voices shouted cheers of encouragement and words of 
farewell. 

It was a proud day for all. I held up my head and 
stepped as firmly as the best. " Bully for you, Phil ! " I 
heard several times, as I stooped to pick up bouquets, of 
which I soon had a handful. 

'' Keep a stiff upper lip, boys," said Lieutenant G , 

as we rounded into Broadway, and beheld the great 
crowd spreading as far as the eye could reach. '^ God 
bless the women," he added. ^' This is a glorious good- 
by, but don't break down." He vigorously wiped the 
dust from his face and eyes. 



12 CAPTA IN PHIL, 

Shouts that deafened, flowers that covered us, greeted 
our turning the corner. Every man held a bouquet 
aloft, and many wore wreaths and garlands ; one wreath, 
well-directed, struck John on the head. He colored as 
he waved in acknowledgment, shook it down, and wore it 
on his shoulders. So we reached the depot, the crowd 
there with difficulty making way for us to pass to the 
cars. 

Now the men broke ranks, each seeking father, mother, 
sister or loved one, to bid the last farewell. Kissing, 
shaking of hands, tears and sobs followed ; and ^^ God 
bless you ! " fell on the air, uttered by young and old, 
rich and poor. Many a stalwart man, from whom a 
bullet could not have forced a groan, cried outright. 

I was standing on the platform looking for John, when 
I heard a familiar voice say, " Here he is now." In a 
moment I was surrounded by the boys of my school class, 
with Charley Thornley at their head, bearing in his hand 
a small flag ornamented with flowers. 

"We have been searching for you, Phil," he said. 
" The boys wish to present you with this flag as a fare- 
well token. The girls sat up half the night to make it, 
and have adorned it with flowers. We know you will 
take good care of it and do all you can." 

I could not reply. I took the flag and waved it ; the 
boys huzzaed, I blubbered, and was shaking hands with 
them when the shrill warning whistle interrupted, and the 
rush of men separated us. I wish I could keep the tears 
back on some occasions — it is so like a girl to cry. I 
would scorn to do it in sickness or pain, but when I am 
excited and moved they will come. John tells me never 
to mind, they will dry up quick enough. But I do 
mind. 

The women seemed frantic ; several of them stooped 
down, embraced and kissed me, speaking kind words, 




/ . 



THE DEPARTURE. 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST TROOPS. 13 

John took my hand, and we gained the inside of the 
car. 

So we left our home for the war. 

All along the road, at every station, the people had 
gathered to bid us welcome and to say '^ God-speed " to the 
first offering of our State to the nation. Banners crossed 
the track, bearing words of greeting ; flags intertwined 
above our heads ; green arches spanned the road ; stirring 
music met us, and enthusiastic voices bade us '^ Remem- 
ber our God and strike for the Union." It was like the 
triumphal processions I had read of in history — the trib- 
ute paid to a victorious Caesar. 

One of the new recruits took a seat beside me and 
made some complimentary remarks upon my flag. We 
soon got into friendly conversation, and I discovered that 
he had only joined the preceding night. He was a slen- 
der, delicate-looking lad of about seventeen, quiet in 
manner, but enthusiastic in the cause. His name, he told 
me, was Joseph Dale. 

The excitement continued during the journey, and 
met us at its termination, where, weary and hungry, we 
arrived in the afternoon. Through some mistake there 
was nothing provided for us to eat, and we marched to 
our quarters, a race course on the edge of the city, and 
there awaited the next order to move. 

Night came on — the first night in camp. Weary and 
supperless, the men threw themselves on the ground to 
sleep without any covering to ward off the chilly air. 
John managed to procure a loaf of bread, and divided 
it with Joseph and me. Then, spreading my traveling 
shawl on the earth, we huddled close and slept soundly. 

The men made themselves as comfortable as possible ; 
some grumbled good naturedly at their accommodations, 
others jested at their first war experience, but at last one 



14 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

by one the voices were hushed, and, worn by travel and 
excitement, all slept well in their novel quarters. The 
early light startled me from my dreams. Joseph was 
already awake. Giving ourselves a brisk shake, by way 
of righting our clothes, we started in pursuit of water for 
a wash. John met us with a cheery ^^ Good-morning," and 
pointed out where we would find what we wanted. A 
quick sousing of our faces, a few passes of our pocket 
combs, and we were ready for the substantial and plentiful 
breakfast the citizens had provided. 

Having taken a liking for each other, Joseph and I 
kept together. The men joked us on our camp experi- 
ence, telling us we would soon wish ourselves back at 
" mamma's apron-string." 

Joseph was the youngest of the company, and so deli- 
cate in appearance that he seemed altogether unfit for the 
rough life of a soldier. As I was known to be a hanger on, 
I was called upon to do many little offices for the men, 
which I cheerfully performed. Indeed John had said to 
me when talking of my going: *' Remember, Phil, the only 
way you can serve your country as yet, is ^to serve those 
who serve it." 

At which Dr. Grey had laughed and rejoined : ^^ Yes, 
my boy, when a soldier wants a drink you must believe 
the Union is thirsty, and forthwith get it for him." 

I am small for my age, and, from ill health, I suppose, 
and having always lived with people older than myself, 
have a staid old look and a precise way of speaking, they 
tell me, which attracts attention. 

As I passed around several called to me : " Halloo, my 
little man, does your mother know you're out ? " '' Here 
pocket edition," etc., ail said in a kindly tone. To some 
of them I replied, to others I did not. 

Several of John's friends were commenting upon my 



THE DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST TROOPS, 15 

introduction among them, when one beckoned me to him 
with, *^What do you intend to do for your country, 
Capting ? " 

'' Keep the flag flying if I can't do anything else," I 
replied, waving mine. 

" What is your first name ? " 

'' Philip. I am Philip Wharton. '* 

"Kneel down," was the laughing retort. 

I dropped before him. 

He took my flag, struck me on the shoulder with it, 
waved it over my head, and called out : — 

"Rise up, Captain Phil." 

And as "Captain Phil " I was always afterwards known 
in the regiment. 

Our breakfast despatched, we again marched to the 
cars and were soon on our way. 

Joseph and I became confidential. I told him all about 
John and myself, — and how I happened to be with the 
regiment. 

He appeared interested in all I said. He told me he 
had neither father nor mother, and had run away from 
his aunt's house, determined to be a soldier. 

I saw John was pleased with my companion ; he made 
some inquiries, and learned he was nineteen, although he 
looked much younger. He expressed a wish to keep with 
us, and John told him he could join our mess. He sel- 
dom spoke to any of the men, and refused all invitations 
to drink or smoke. 

That day passed much as the previous one had. We 
were everywhere received with the same enthusiasm, but 
the men were not so excited, and they slept between 
times. Joseph and I were sitting quietly on the same 
seat, when a rough recruit who sat behind us leaned for- 
ward and said : 



l6 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

" Aren't you getting a little homesick ? " 

" No," I answered, turning round and pointing to John, 
*^ I have my home with me." 

'' Good for you," he said, slapping me on the shoulder, 
*^but I meant t'other one." 

" Me," and Joseph straightened himself up. " Yes, 
homesick to meet the rebels." 

" You'll do, both of you," was the reply as he sank back 
in his seat again. 

I saw a drop like a tear on Joseph's cheek, and suppose 
this caused the query. 

That night we made another stoppage, and the next 
day reached the camp where we were destined to stay 
many weeks. 



CHAPTER III. 

LIFE IN CAMP. 

IT was several days before we got into any kind of regular 
routine, or began to feel at all settled. The troops 
were eager to go to the defense of Washington, threatened 
by the rebels, and grumbled much that they were not 
allowed to do so, chafing at the delay. The greater part 
of the regiment consisted of new recruits, who had to be 
drilled ere they were fit for duty, and then must be uni- 
formed and armed. 

We received regular rations of hard biscuit, salt pork, 
and coffee, no butter, but, twice a week, fresh meat was 
allowed. Soldiers' fare went hard with me at first, and 
all my money was soon spent for delicacies. We did our 
own cooking. Joseph and I volunteered for this duty ; he 
had a natural talent for it, and taught me to make excel- 
lent coffee. 

The regiment drilled six and eight hours a day. I 
always turned out with the men and went systematically 
through the manual, which soon began to tell upon me. I 
slept soundly, although my bed was only the soft side of 
a board, and I entered into every duty with zest. John 
had appeared anxious on my account in the commence- 
ment of our journey, but now he began to let me take 
care of myself. 

Joseph was getting browned by exposure ; he attained 
much proficiency in drill and bore himself well ; when 
he came in after three or four hours' exercise, his eyes 



i8 CAPTAIN PHIL 

would be so bright and his cheeks so red that it was a 
pleasure to look at him. The men called him " Handsome 
Joe." Being neat and handy, and always ready to oblige, 
he was a favorite. 

Many ladies visited us, and they did not come empty 
handed. They brought meats, pies, cakes, vegetables, 
pickles, and other nice things, which we enjoyed there as 
we never had at home. 

I received so many of these favors that it soon became 
a joke among the men, when they saw a carriage approach- 
ing, to call me to hand out the ladies. My eagerness to 
obey brought upon me a sharp reprimand from John ; I 
kept in the background after that. I was prouder of the 
bouquets presented to me than of anything else, and was 
always strutting about with one in my cap or jacket, 
which to tease me the men would sometimes snatch at. 
John tried to laugh me out of this ^'puppyism " as he 
called it, but I stopped him with an allusion to the wreath 
he wore on his shoulders the day we left home, and 
which hung over his knapsack in our quarters with my 
flag. 

At nine every night the roll was called, before which I 
always read a chapter of the Bible with John, and said the 
Lord's prayer. At half-past nine the drum tapped and 
all lights were extinguished. 

It was while in that camp that I made my first attempt 
at washing. Our flannel shirts and drawers were soiled ; 
we could get no one to wash for us, so I determined to 
try to wash them myself. Going to a little creek some 
distance off, I waded in the water, and soaped and 
rubbed and scrubbed to my heart's content, then laid 
them on the rocks to dry. As John wished to indulge in 
a clean shirt, I, that evening, with considerable pride, 
produced the one I had washed, when to my astonish- 



LIFE IN CAMP. 19 

ment he could not get it on, it was so drawn up and 
thick his efforts to stretch only tore it. 

I told Joseph, who laughed and bade me never mind, 
he would show me how to wash. Next day, after morn- 
ing drill, armed with the pot we made our coffee in,' we 
proceeded to a retired part of the creek, made a fire, filled 
the pot with water, and put it on to boil. While it was 
heating Joseph proceeded to mend the tears and sew the 
buttons on, supplying himself with all he needed from his 
soldier's bag, some kind ladies having provided our regi- 
ment with them. He handled the needle so well, and 
appeared so thoroughly to understand what he was doing, 
that I remarked he sewed like a girl. He did not 
appear to like that, and answered that he had been ap- 
prenticed to a tailor once, but he did not care that every 
one should know it. 

When the water was hot he made a soap suds and put 
the flannels in it, to take the millings as he called it, out. 
After letting them remain there awhile he and I stretched 
them, pulling them in all directions until they were 
almost dry, when they presented quite a different appear- 
ance from what they did after my washing. Being tired, 
we next threw ourselves upon the grass to munch a cracker. 
After a while Joseph wandered away, and I read a news- 
paper I had with me. He returned in a few moments and 
said : " I am going to take a bath. Captain Phil. There is 
a nice little spot around there," pointing to a bend where 
the alders drooped over and hid the stream. ^* You 
whistle if you see any one coming." I wondered why he 
should be so particular, but, remembering his shyness, his 
constant refusal to bathe with the men, and their saying 
that he must have been bitten by a mad dog, and must 
have hydrophobia, he dreaded water so, I made no re- 
mark. 



50 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

He returned apparently much refreshed, and was full of 
fun and frolic. We had a nap ; then collecting our things, 
went back to camp, reaching there just in time for bat- 
talion drill. 

One morning news spread through the camp that the 
equipments and arms had arrived. All were on the alert. 
When I saw the men in their bright new uniforms I was, 
for the first time, dissatisfied with my flannel shirt. 

I stood beside John wheH he put his uniform on, and 
arranged his haversack and handled his gun, with admir- 
ing envy. Observing my manner, he turned to me and 
said : 

" What is the matter, Phil ? " 

I stammered "nothing;" then, looking up in his face 
with a half-laughing, half-soliciting expression, " I think 
I might have a uniform too." 

" I thought that was it ; but uniforms cost money, 
Phil, and I am poor, and the war will make me poorer." 

I made no reply, but one of the men who stood by, 
said : 

" You must put the livery on him, Wharton, or he will 
not be known as one of us." 

John looked at me and smiled. 

A few days after, as we were eating our supper, a large 
package was delivered to him. He put it aside. It was my 
turn to wash up and put the things away. Joseph helped 
me, as he always did. I washed my face and combed 
my hair when I had done, for John was particular about 
my appearance, and went and seated myself under the 
tree where he sat watching some of the men who were 
playing leap-frog. 

" Here, Phil," he said, as I touched the earth, "is your 
uniform," and he drew the parcel from behind him. 

I leaped up, cut the wrapper open, and there, sure 



LIFE IN CAMP. 21 

Enough, it was, cap, boots and all. I examined them one 
by one, and to my satisfaction found that they were all 
of much better make and material than his. Going aside 
a little I put them on, stepped back and forth, looked up 
and down in admiration. Finally, I strapped the knap- 
sack on my shoulders, and strutted back to John. Cer- 
tainly I was never so proud in all my life as when I stood 
before him and exclaimed : 

** Now I am a United States soldier ! '' 

" You should have the tags and a gun and you would 
pass for the Little Corporal himself,'* said Lieutenant 

G , who had just joined John, and with him was 

enjoying my satisfaction, which was not complete until I 
had gone the rounds and exhibited myself in my new drtss. 

It was rumored that we were speedily to move for 
Washington, and all were in eager expectation of the 
announcement. One day I had been to the neighboring 

town on an errand for Colonel F , which had kept 

me several hours from camp. On my return I observed 
groups standing round earnestly talking ; but as I had 

been told not to loiter, I hastened to Colonel F 's 

quarters, although one or two of the men called me in 

passing. There was quite a crowd at Colonel F 's 

tent, John among them. One said as I approached : 
"Here is Captain Phil, he can tell us all about her.'* 
Whereupon a half-dozen of them spoke at once, asking 
something about Joseph. 

" Had I observed anything unusual about him ? " 
" Had I seen him undressed ? '* " Did I know he was a 
woman ? ** 

" Come here, Phil," said the colonel, and he repeated 
the questions. 

I answered I had observed nothing unusual, and never 
dreamed he was a woman. 



22 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

How the discovery was made I did not exactly under- 
stand ; but it was made, and the regiment was amazed at 
it. The idea had never entered any man's head that the 
quiet, handsome boy, ever ready to do a service, and dis- 
tinguished for his aptness in military drill, was a woman. 

She would neither tell her name, nor give her reasons 
for enlisting, nor answer any questions about her former 
life. She only begged that she might be sent away where 
she could get women's clothes. 

Many supposed her a spy, and she was told of the sus- 
picion, at which she only laughed. 

She desired to be dismissed, asserted she had faithfully 
performed the duties required of her since she had been 
in the regiment, and should have continued to perform 
them if she had not been discovered. She knew it was 
now impossible for her to remain. 

They had her under guard preparatory to her removal 
from camp. The colonel requested me to go and see 
her, as she might make a confession to me. 

She put out her hand when I went in. 

" Well, Captain Phil, they have found me out. I 
thought j^^ would have done so long ago." 

I could not answer — could not believe her a woman. 

** Do beg the colonel to send me to Cincinnati, Cap- 
tain Phil. I have friends there," were her next words. 

She would not reply to my questions except to say, 
" You are a good fellow, Captain Phil ; but these officers 
don't know everything. I told you the truth when I told 
you I had no father and mother, and had run away from 
my aunt. If a man had been as miserable as I was he 
would have shot himself. I do not expect to see you 
ever again. Captain Phil. Keep this as a remembrance." 
She handed me her Bible. So we parted. 

On the morrow orders came to march, and Joseph 



LIFE IN CAMP, 2% 

was forgotten in the eagerness of all hands to press 
forward. 

We were to go by way of Baltimore, and, in view of 
any trouble there, John thought of leaving me to follow 
him ; but I protested so earnestly against it, insisting he 
was making a baby of me, that he yielded, giving me 
orders what to do in case of an attack. 

With my uniform on I took my place by Lieutenant 

G 's side, flag in hand, and, if not the tallest, I know 

I was the proudest man in that regiment. 

We reached Baltimore in due season, strong and reso- 
lute, with guns half cocked, having orders to fire upon 
the mob if assaulted. The men left the cars and moved 
through the sullen crowd without molestation to the 
Washington depot (only greeted now and then with the 
cry, " Hurrah for Jeff Davis ! "). They were soon on 
their way to the Capital. 



CHAPTER IV. 

AT WASHINGTON. 

IT was twilight when, dusty and travel-worn, we reached 
Washington, where we found quarters provided for 
us, into which we were glad to go. 

The next morning all were startled by the sudden 
announcement that Colonel Ellsworth was dead. 

Our troops had silently passed over to Alexandria in 
the night, and he had been shot in an attempt to carry off 
the rebel flag floating from the Marshall House. With 
the flag in his possession he was descending the stairs, 
when Jackson, the proprietor of the house, saw and killed 
him. Jackson, in turn, met his death at the hand of 
Bromwell, one of Ellsworth's Zouaves. As the news 
spread, all was excitement. The men questioned its 
truth ; officers went out to ascertain its veracity, and re- 
turned with pale faces and set teeth, confirming the 
report. Ellsworth's men vowed deep vows of vengeance. 

Ellsworth was my hero. He had exhibited his Zouaves 
in our city, when he made his rounds with them, since 
when I had been Zouave-crazy. The boys had formed a 
Zouave company, copying their dress and emulating their 
drill Of this company I was a member. One of my 
promised pleasures in visiting Washington was to see the 
Zouaves face to face, with Ellsworth at their head, and to 
go to their camp. Our regiment was ordered to camp a 
short distance out of the city. The faces of the people 
we saw on our way there were gloomy. We had taken 



AT WASHINGTON. 2$ 

Alexandria but had lost Ellsworth. His body was brought 
io the Navy Yard. The Zouaves were frenzied, and de- 
clared they would settle the account with interest on the 
first opportunity ; henceforth their cry was, " Ellsworth 
and vengeance " — a threat the Red-Caps were not likely 
to forget. 

After we were fixed in camp and our usual routine es- 
tablished, John, who was anxious that I should see all 
that was to be seen,- gave me permission to accompany 

Colonel F , who was going to Washington. He desired 

me to call upon Mrs. Leavit, an old friend of my mother^s, 
who resided there, and present his compliments, stating 
his wish to do so in person as soon as he could get leave. 

I went with the colonel to the city. He was an old friend ; 
had known my father, and when he was in business John 
had been in his employment. Following his directions, I 
made my way to New Jersey Avenue, where Mrs. Leavit 
lived. She received me warmly for my mother's sake. 
When I told her I had accompanied my brother, who was 
a volunteer in the Union Army, she kissed me. I saw 
the sights with Mrs. Leavit, dined with her, and stayed 
all night at her house. 

About two o'clock the next morning I was aroused by 
a magnificent band playing " The Campbells are Coming " 
in most stirring strains. I stretched my head out the 
window to see the " Highlanders " — the New York 79th 
— which had just arrived. Dressed in their beautiful cos- 
tume, they marched steadily along, their arms glittering in 
the gas-light, the inspiring music rolling and swelling on 
the air, startling the people from their sleep, who thronged 
the windows in their night-clothes, and waved and shouted 
and clapped their hands. 

Going down to the hotel I found the colonel full of 
business. He told me I must take care of myself that 



26 Captain Phil, 

day. Not wishing to go back to Mrs. Leavit's, I found 
plenty to interest me as I wandered about the city. . 

About nine o'clock the colonel returned to his room 
and proceeded to make his toilet. He told me he was 
going to the President's levee. I gave him an account of 
my day, hoping he would invite me to go with him, but 
he did not appear to think of so doing. I rendered him 
all the assistance I could, but my hopes grew fainter 
and fainter as he proceeded, and when he turned for a 
final look in the glass, ere he pulled on his gloves, I re- 
signed myself to my fate. 

A sudden thought, however, seemed to strike him as he 
was about to leave the room, for, turning to me, he said: 

"What are you going to do with yourself, Captain 
Phil ? '* 

" I do not know — go to bed, I suppose, sir." 

*^ Would you like to go to the levee ? " 

"Yes, that I would." 

" Why did you not say so before, you young rascal ? 
Make haste ; I have not a moment to lose." 

I lost no time, and we were soon on our way to the 
White House. 

There were carriages and servants in waiting outside, 
music and brilliant lights within. 

We entered the hall and managed to reach the room 
where the President and Mrs. Lincoln received. 

About the center of the apartment there stood a tall, 
thin, angular, muscular man, whom I knew at a glance to 
be Mr. Lincoln. A few feet from him was a pleasant- 
looking lady, whom I also knew to be Mrs. Lincoln. 

A gentleman near mentioned Colonel F 's name, 

and the President shook hands with him, and made some 
remark ; Mrs. Lincoln bowed courteously, and we passed 
on. I hoped Mr. Lincoln would notice me, but he did not. 



AT WASHINGTON. 5? 

People were constantly going and coming ; most of the 
Indies were in bright, gay dresses, and many gentlemen 
were in uniforms. Visitors came in at one door, and 
passed out at the other, scattering through the rooms. 
The most prominent people, however, appeared to stay in 
the room with the President. 

After sauntering through the great east room I contrived 
to get back to the one we had first entered. I washed to 
see more of Mr. Lincoln. No one noticed me, and I 
edged as near the President as I could get without being 
intrusive. I saw he liked the ladies and was a favorite 
with them. When they paused to pay their respects, a 
good humored smile lighted his face, and he had a pleas- 
ant word of greeting. Several times during the evening 
he laughed heartily. Once, I saw him pluck the sleeve 
of a gentleman who was passing, and say something which 
seemed greatly to amuse both. 

I longed to have that great sinewy hand take mine and 
shake it, and feel those honest eyes looking down into 
mine. There was something so frank and kind in their 
expression, I felt I should love him. 

I wished to know a little of the people about me, but 

Col. F had found friends, and was engaged with them, 

and I was left to take care of myselfo Secretary Ciiase I 
had seen at home, and knew his Websterean head at a 
glance. Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, I also recog- 
nized ; Mrs. Leavit had pointed him out to me at the 
Capitol, saying : '' He is a pure patriot, Philip, and the sol- 
dier's friend." Gov. Dennison I also knew. But there 
were other senators and distinguished men, some of them 
wearing badges, whom I supposed were foreign ministers, 
that I should like to have had named to me. There were 
several plain men, who might have been farmers, walking 
about with their wives on their arms, the women looking 



2 8 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

shy and confused ; and a bright old Quaker lady to whom 
the President's manner was deferential. 

As it happened, when Colonel F and I were mak- 
ing our way out we passed quite near Mr. Lincoln. 
Moving suddenly away from the group by whom he was 
surrounded he came against me. Placing his hand upon my 
head, he said kindly, while his weary look vanished and a 
genial smile came over his face : 

" Whom have we here ? " 

" An incipient soldier. One of the Western defenders 
of the Capital,'* said Colonel F . 

" He looks like a brave one. Be faithful and true, my 
boy ; you could not have a better cause." 

Old Abe shook me heartily by the hand. 

As we reached the door the band struck up " Yankee 

Doodle ; " " Just in time," said Colonel F , '' that is the 

signal of dismissal." 

I had little to say ; I felt as I suppose my grandfather 
must have felt when he talked with General Washington, 
for John had often told me how he spoke of it, with a 
glow on his pale face, and a light in his dim eye, when he 
was a white-haired old man. 

The next morning, instead of going directly to camp. 
Colonel F decided to inspect the scene of Ells- 
worth's murder, and was ready to mount his horse for that 
purpose when I got back from Mrs. Leavit's. I went with 
him. We found Alexandria deserted — the streets silent — 
the houses shut — sentries were the only signs of life, save 
two or three men, who scowled at us in passing. Not a 
woman or child did we see. A soldier, in answer to Colo- 
nel F 's question, ^' Where is the Marshall House ? " 

pointed to a dingy tavern, a sort of drover's inn, at a little 
distance. Riding up to the door we alighted, and Colonel 
F requested permission to see the spot where Ells- 



AT WASHIXGTON. 2^ 

worth met his death. Three or four lazy, sullen-looking 
men were lounging about, one of whom pointed out the 
place on the landing where he was attacked, as he went 
down-stairs with the flag. Our attention was drawn to 
several doors in which bullets had lodged. The staircase 
and landing were much defaced, pieces of the wood hav- 
ing been cut off by visitors anxious to preserve them as 
relics. Our curiosity gratified, we returned to the lower 
floor. A Federal soldier, who had taken too much liquor, 
stood in the hall, and talked in a swaggering, defiant way 
of the ^^Zoo Zoos," and the vengeance they would take. 
The men only repHed with fierce and gloomy looks, and 
set teeth. 

Going back we stopped at the camp of one of the New 
York regiments and stayed some time. Walking around, 
I saw a little boy, of only about eleven years of age, eating 
his dinner off his drum's head. I went up and began to 
talk to him, and said : " You are very young to be in the 
army ;" he replied: ^' There are plenty of boys in the army 
as young as me — and I knew one boy who was killed." He 
then told me of Clarence IMcKenzie, of the New York 
13th, who was killed at Annapolis, a little while before, 
by the accidental discharge of a gun in the hands of one 
of the soldiers. I asked him if he did not think he would 
be afraid in battle. He thought not, but he did not know ; 
he felt as big as anybody when playing for the soldiers. 
In answer to my question " If he did not want to see his 
mother?" he said: ^' Yes, sometimes, but father's here; he 
is drum major." 

Showing our passes again at the Long Bridge we w^ere 
soon clattering through the streets of Washington. A 
drove of mules and horses was being driven through the 
city for army use, and such rearing, dragging, plunging, 
never, I think, was seen before. Notwithstanding Colonel 



30 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

F 's annoyance at our entanglement in this crowd, I 



laughed until I could hardly sit on my horse at the 
attempts of an old negro to get out of the way of a refrac- 
tory mule, one of a drove. The driver pulled and dragged, 
the mule shied first one side then the other, and then 
determinedly set his feet and backed. Sambo got across 
the street, edged himself against a house, and thought he 
was out of danger, when the animal backed on him, his 
heels flying at each blow from the driver. The darkey 
squirmed and dodged in the most ludicrous manner, hold- 
ing his bundle up before him for protection, the drove 
preventing his getting out of the way. At length with the 
cry " Golly mighty, massa,'* as a blow reached him instead 
of the mule, he darted through the throng and down the 
street with all speed. 

There was a carriage in front of the War Office as we 
passed. A tall, magnificent-looking old man, dressed in 
military clothes, was getting out, assisted by two of the 
clerks. 

" Look, Captain Phil," said Colonel F , " that is 

General Scott.'' 

We drew rein. He halted to speak to one passing, 
then tottered to the door of the building. 

I had seen " Old Chapultepec," as Captain Schott 
called General Scott. Perfectly satisfied with my visit to 

Washington, I returned to camp, and, as Colonel F 

ordered me, reported to John. 



CHAPTER V. 

A DAY AT THE CAMPS. 

ONE day during this month Colonel F wished sev- 
eral commissions attended to, and proposed that John 
that I should be trusted with them. I gladly undertook 
the business. At the close of his directions the colonel 
said : ^^ I intend to visit the Zouave camp next week, Cap- 
tain Phil, and you shall accompany me." 

Starting early, I reached the city betimes. After 
attending to the colonel's orders, which required con- 
siderable running about, I went to call upon Mrs. Leavit. 
She was glad to see me, and said : 

*' You are just in time, the New York Seventh returns 
home to-day. All Washington will be out to bid them 
farewell ; you want to see the show, I know, so jump in, 
the carriage is at the door." 

In I got, taking charge of the bouquets. Driving to 
the avenue we saw many carriages and people going the 
same way. 

" Now, Philip, you must wave and cheer with all your 
might ; the Seventh came to us in our extremity, and they 
were most welcome ; they must have a brilliant farewell." 

** I never was so glad in all my hfe," continued the lit- 
tle woman, half rising from her seat and gazing around her 
as the carriage halted : '' I was never so glad to see men as 
I was to see the Massachusetts and New York regiments ; 
I could have embraced each man separately," she laughed. 
" The Massachusetts Sixth had been attacked in coming ; 



$2 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

the railroad was torn up ; the road blocked. The morning 
came laden with fears that we would be in the hands of 
the rebels before night. Night found us trembling and 
watching for the dawn. We heard they had started ; the 
time for their arrival came, and all hearts in expectancy 
turned to meet them. They came not ; we had no word of 
them. Had they fallen into a trap of the foe ? We could 
not tell ; they could not communicate with us nor we with 
them. We knew nothing, and were alive to every fear. 

" Word reached us that they were on the way ; they 
came ; the road was open ; the city safe. Massachusetts 
and New York had come to the rescue. You should 
have seen the President as he welcomed them ; his care- 
worn face was radiant with satisfaction — Hark ! " she 
quickly added, as she held up her finger, " I hear the band 
— they are coming." 

We listened ; it was but a drum and fife. 

*^ Those only," she continued, *^ could realize our joy 
who had shared our danger. It is a good thing to be a 
soldier, Philip ;" she leaned forward and looked in my 
eyes as she laid her hand on my knee, " but a great thing 
to be a soldier defending your country, fighting for liberty 
and law — God bless all such." 

She paused. 

" How did you provide for the troops ?" 

** As well as we could, and there was no grumbling. 
They occupied the streets and the Capitol building, were 
quartered in the halls and lobbies, and I must say these 
were never better filled or more to my mind. Some of 
the men had left their homes in such hot haste they were 
in a sad plight. I came near stripping my husband's 
wardrobe helping them. Whenever I saw a sturdy yeo- 
man from the hills of Vermont, or the old battle-fields of 
Massachusetts, my heart warmed to him, and I was im- 



A DAY AT THE CAMPS. 33 

pelled to stop and have something to say. I eschewed 
the Seventh," with another of her little laughs ; ^^ they 
needed nothing, had money and admirers enough ; be- 
sides, I had seen a little of the world, and so had most of 
them." She turned quickly at a movement in the crowd. 
" Here they are, fine soldiers all, and did their duty nobly 
— I am sorry they are going." 

There they were sure enough, and taking advantage of 
an opening in the line of carriages we moved to a better 
position. 

Covered with dust, but with a gallant bearing, the 
Seventh came in, marching in perfect order, nearly every 
man having a nosegay at his button-hole. The day was 
hot, but the men were spirited and bright, and their ap- 
pearance showed they had not been playing war. They 
were browned by the sun, and bore the marks of work 
and exposure. 

The air rang with huzzas — women waved their hand- 
kerchiefs and showered bouquets, — men's hats circled in 
the air. In the midst of all the locomotive snorted in, 
the shrill whistle blew, the cry ** all aboard " rang out- 
there was a cloud of handkerchiefs — a deafening shout — 
and the Seventh took to the cars, and, leaving a train of 
vapor behind, were whizzed off. 

Mrs. Leavit drove away in the direction of the White 
House. There was a carriage standing before the Pres- 
ident's mansion, and a lady was getting into it. 

"That is Mrs. Lincoln, Philip," said my kind guide. 
She was the same lady I had seen at the levee. 

Declining Mrs. Leavit's offer of a bed, I left her after 
dinner and went back to camp. 

A few days after this, on a bright cool morning, I was 
rubbing my eyes, having been awakened by the reveille 
and thinking it was earlier than usual, when John said : 
3 



34 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

^* Make double-quick time, Phil. Colonel F is 

going to the Zouave camp to-day, and will be off early ; 
report yourself at his quarters as soon as you are dressed ; 
I have secured a horse for you." 

" Have you seen him ? " 

" Not to-day, don't ask any more questions ; a good 
soldier never questions, he obeys." 

I made good time, and we were shortly on our way to 
Shooter's Hill, where the Zouaves had their camp. Much 

to my satisfaction no one accompanied Colonel F 

but myself. 

It was a glorious morning ; the sun was up, scattering 
the mists which had rested on the valleys, thus giving to our 
view a beautiful country. As we rode along dashing the rain 
drops from the trees, the colonel talked pleasantly to me. 

When we reached the camp, the men were lotfnging 
about waiting the summons to breakfast. Some were in 
groups laughing and jesting, others stretched full length 
on the ground, apparently sleeping, while squads attended 
the fires and cooked. 

" I say. Bill," said one sleepy looking specimen of hu- 
manity as we passed, ^^ is that chicken done ? " 

"Almost," said a man who was stirring a pot over the 
fire, — " but, Dick, I don't think the old man's dog relished 
the bite he had of your leg last night ; he spit it out like 
pisin. Joe was up there this morning, and says he hangs 
his head and looks sick." 

"Ay, yi," yelled the group. 

The man addressed raised himself, and, arranging a 
bandage about his leg, remarked : 

" It burns like fire ; I wish I had killed the beast ; it 
may give me hydrophoby yet." 

" Your flesh don't agree with him, sure, and, from all 
accounts, he is more like to die of manophoby than you 



A DAY AT THE CAMPS. 35 

of hydrophoby," said one who sat hugging his knees, and 
who suddenly ducked his head and rolled over and over 
down hill, to avoid a camp stool which came flying at him. 

The colonel wore his uniform, but they took not the 
least notice of his presence. He glanced at me in a quiz • 
zical way out of the corner of his eye, as the conversation 
reached him. 

One group were at their meal. A thin, wiry little fellow 
poured out the coffee ; while doing so he made a motion 
as if he intended to scald the man next him, and said : 

" Look here, Charlie, if this stuff is not better than 
that tobacco slop you gave us yesterday, I'll make you 
swallow it, pot and all." 

On reaching the tent of the colonel's friend, we found 
him at breakfast, and were invited by him to share the 
meal, which I did with a relish, and with despatch too, 
for I was eager to get away to see more of the care-for- 
naught dare-devils outside. 

The meal over, the colonel went with some officers to 
examine the fortifications, and I strolled where I wished. 

Situated upon the top of a hill, the camp presented one 
of the prettiest sights I ever saw. 

The soldiers in their red shirts and caps ; the green 
trees and white tents, made a gay picture in the light of 
that summer morning. The valley spread out below in 
fields and meadows, scattered about in which were com- 
panies of soldiers belonging to the regiments near. The 
birds sang in the trees, the grasshoppers chirped in the 
grass, the bands played, and the sky was blue over all. 

"Say, now, Sambarina,'* a brawny specimen called out, 
his mouth full, '' are you sure this thing aren't pisened ? " 

"The Lord knows it aren't, massa." She was selling 
cakes. 

" The Lord knows nothing about it, or you either.'* 



3^ CAPTAIN PHIL. 

The woman grinned from ear to ear. 

" 'Spec he knows as much 'bout me as you, massa.*' 

^' He don't know me at all ; I never trouble him." 

" I does, massa ; I prays allys." 

" What do you pray for ? To be made white ? " 

" No, massa ; I prays for you, dat dar may be a full 
heaven," she nodded expressively towards him, ^^ and an 
empty hell," she nodded again. ^' Dat right, massa, 
aren't it ?" 

" Ki, ay, yi ! " the group yelled with laughter. 

The pie-eater turned a somersault, and in his peculiar 
way shouted : — 

^' S-a-y, git along, you hoavy old daughter of Cain, or I 
will make mince-meat of you." 

She chuckled off. 

Three or four boys were playing a game, and I paused 
to see what it was. One of them pointed to me, saying : 
^^ Look at that figure-head, Sam ; is it man, mouse or 
monkey ? " 

I did not feel complimented, and my face grew red and 
hot. 

" He's a fancy chap, I reckon," the one addressed re- 
plied. 

^^ S-a-y, colonel, to what regiment do you belong ? " 

"To the good-mannered corps," I answered, "and 
there is not a Zouave among them." 

"Ki, yi, ay! Take that, old fellow." They slapped 
Sam on the back until he writhed under it. One cried, 
" try it again, colonel ;" another, " you must have break- 
fasted on razor soup, manikin ; " while Sam muttered 
"he would like to put me through Baltimore." 

We remained to see them drill. It seemed hard for 
them to submit to discipline,' but they did, and in their 
exercises had not the loose, disjointed movement they 
ordinarily had. 



A DA Y AT THE CAMPS. 37 

The drilling over I continued my walk, waiting until 
the colonel had finished his visit. 

My attention w^as attracted by a half-dozen men, (who 
had thrown themselves on the grass) suddenly starting up, 
and running down the hill towards a w^agon which had 
just appeared below. I was midway of the declivity, and 
the first thing I knew, a voice called ^' Good-by, daddy," 
and a figure went flying over my head, alighting some 
three feet in front of me, somewhat after the manner the 
boys play leap-frog. Without a pause the red fez and 
shirt continued the descent toward the wagon, making 
frantic gestures and uttering wild cries. 

Recovering from my astonishment, and not relishing 
being a stool for that kind of sport, I tried to get out of 
the way ; but ere I could succeed the feat was repeated ; 
this time, however, the Zouave dropped his fez. turned a 
somersault, caught it, clapped it on his head, and went 
whooping down the hill. 

Beating a retreat from these acrobats, I ran with all my 
might toward the wagon, which seemed to be their object. 

A man scrambled hastily out of the vehicle, as a half 
dozen red shirts, with cries of " put him through Balti- 
more," dashed into it, and, seizing bread, cakes, pies, 
hurled them to the surrounding crowd, screeching the 
while as though they were mad, or giving their yell when- 
ever a pie hit a man on face or head. 

In less than five minutes the wagon was empty, and the 
actors were going off with their spoil, unmindful of the 
supplications of the owner, who stood beside the old 
horse trembling and begging. 

'^ Let's wash his face for him," said one, having a great 
soft custard pie in his hands. 

** Teach him not to cheat the Zoo Zoos again." 

*^ Here's ^ blood and Baltimore,'" screamed another, as 



38 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

he sprang forward and seized the man by the hair, bend- 
ing his head backwards, while the first speaker slapped 
the custard in his face, grinding it in with his hand — fill- 
ing his eyes — stuffing his mouth — plastering his hair, 
the lookers-on shouting and enjoying it. When it was 
all gone the operator gave his victim a box on the side of 
his head, which sent him reeling to a distance, and bade 
him *' scatter; " an injunction he obeyed with what alac- 
rity he could, followed by showers of soft mud, which 
were sent after him wiih yells w^hich made both him and 
his horse tremble in every joint. 

Highly pleased with their exploit, the party struggled 
up the hill, jumping on each other's backs, throwing each 
other down, whooping, singing, and swinging from the 
branches of the trees. 

I gathered from their talk that this man was supposed 
to have cheated them in some transaction they had with 
him, and they had taken redress in their own hands. 

When I gained the top of the hill, I found Colonel 

F ready to start. In a few minutes we were on our 

horses and off at a brisk trot. When I told him of the 
scene I had witnessed he laughed, and said : 

^^ There is much in these men, but they are reckless and 
hate restraint ; are generous, yet cruel when roused. Ells- 
worth was the man for them ; they admired, feared, and 
loved him, and he disciplined them. To be a true soldier, 
Captain Phil, you must submit to discipline." 

Riding further, he said : *^ We will take our dinner at 
the farm yonder. The farmer and I know each other, 
and I v/ish to see him. Afterwards we will go to the 
Rhode Island camp ; there you v/ill see a very different set 
of men from the Zouaves." 

Accordingly we soon pulled up at the farmer's gate, 
and were cordially invited by the owner to enter. 



1 




MOBBING THE PIE-xMAN. 



i 



i 



CHAPTER VI. 

A DAY AT THE CAMPS — Continued. 

THE farmer was a strong Union man. He received us 
kindly, and gave us a good dinner. When he heard 
where we had been, he said : 

" The * Zouves,' as the niggers call them, often come 
this way for vegetables, butter, etc. I like them, though 
some of them are hard cases. My old woman sometimes 
bakes cakes and pies for them ; they are civil and good- 
natured to my family, and we have never suffered from 
them. They are great favorites with my niggers, who 
both admire and fear them. They have no mercy on the 
snakes^ as they call the secesh ; they plague and rob 
them on all occasions, and are cordially hated in 
return. 

*^Not long since," he continued, "a couple of them 
heard, through an old nigger, that a lot of ammunition 
was secreted in a house some miles from camp, whose 
owner they had spotted as one of the pisen ones ; his 
place being the headquarters for the disaffected in all this 
region. The danger of the enterprise gave it zest ; they 
determined on a seizure. 

" Keeping their counsel, they stole from the camp at 
nightfall, soon reaching a point in the woods where the 
old nigger was secreted with a vehicle, which between 
bribes and threats they had compelled him to procure for 
them. Mounting the vehicle, they set off at what speed 
they could to the scene of their exploit ; having fright- 



40 CAP TA IN PHIL. 

ened the blackey almost into fits with threats of ven- 
geance if he betrayed them. 

'' The house was shut, and all seemed dark within. 
Prowling around it, they discovered a window on the 
lower floor, from a chink of which a light proceeded, and, 
drawing near, heard voices and the clang of arms within, 
as the speakers moved. One mounted to the shoulders 
of the others to look. The room was full of armed cav- 
alrymen. The noise made by the accidental slipping of 
the Zouave, caused them, with crash and clatter, to spring 
to the window and throw it open. They saw only dark- 
ness ; the Zouaves had dropped silently to the earth, and, 
breathlessly crouching, were overlooked by the foe 
above. 

" Satisfied their fears w^ere groundless, with threat and 
curse they closed the sash and withdrew. 

" Waiting only to be reassured, the Zouaves proceeded 
to search for the horses of the men within. They found 
them tied in a thicket some distance from the house, and 
quietly cut their bridles. Going back, they scaled the 
piazza, and, noiselessly as cats, reached the second story of 
the building, where they groped until they found the 
room, of which they had an accurate description. Rais- 
ing the window, they felt along the walls and floor until 
they came upon the bags of ammunition, of which there 
were a large number. The piazza ran the whole length 
of the house, at one end of which was this room, while at 
the other end, just beneath it, was the well. One w^ent 
inside, while the other stood without, and, receiving the 
bags, traversed the roof and dropped them into the 
water. In their eagerness to finish the job, the last arm- 
ful went with a dash, struck the house, and in a moment 
brought the whole party inside upon them. It was fight 
and fly, and they found they must fight first. With one 



A DAY AT THE CAMPS, 41 

bound they reached the earth, and stood side by side — 
killed two men, and threw a third down the well. At 
length, favored by the darkness, they gained their cart, 
lashed the old horse into a foam, and succeeded in reach- 
ing the camp in safety." 

After dinner, while the farmer and the colonel smoked 
and talked on the porch, the old woman and her daugh- 
ters entertained me within by asking me all manner of 
questions. Finishing his cigar the colonel was ready to 
start. We made a detour of several miles, visiting the 
posts of some Western regiments. Near the camp of one 
from Michigan we saw hanging from a tree the carcass 
of a lean, hungry, miserable dog, labeled '' Jeff Davis." 
AVithin the lines of, I think, the 12th New York, sus- 
pended from a tiny gallows, was a mouse, and on a 
placard hanging from its neck, was written : " Traitors 
beware of the 12th." 

We had been traveling leisurely, w^hen, looking at his 
watch, the colonel said : " Do you feel like a hard trot. 
Captain Phil ? I should like to be in at the evening service 
of the Rhode Islanders, and we shall have to ride for it." 

I readily assented, and our trot broke into a gallop. In 
this style we neared the camp, and found ourselves in 
time for both parade and prayer. 

Stalwart and brave, this regiment had the appearance 
of picked men. 

As the sun set they drew up for parade on a grassy 
field near the camp. Never was there a more soldierly sight 
than they presented, as the sun's last beams glanced along 
the barrels of their guns, and glittered like diamonds on the 
points of their bayonets. Their hats gave them a 
cavalier look, notwithstanding their sober uniforms. I 
thought of the knights of old. 

With the precision of veterans they went through the 



42 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

exercises. These over, there was a pause, and dead still- 
ness, followed by the heavy sound of grounding arms, and 
then they stood like statues. The faces of the spectators 
became grave, every whisper was hushed ; the chaplain 
stepped forward with uplifted hands, the colonel uncov- 
ered his head, men raised their hats, women bowed their 
faces, and then the stillness was broken by prayer, fol- 
lowed by a hymn from the band accompanied by voices. 

*' The sounding aisles of the dim wood rang 
With the anthem of the free ! " 

was all I could think of, as with swelling heart I listened 
and wished for John's presence, for he would have enjoyed 
it. The benediction seemed to fall like dew, silently and 
softly from the heavens, on the heads bowed there ; 
women wiped their eyes, and men turned aside as it 
closed. 

The colonel intended to stay for supper, and I had per- 
mission to stroll about. The camp was in most beau- 
tiful order. Their houses- were built in rows, forming 
streets, each street being named. Their quarters were 
adorned with flowers and green boughs and pretty little 
ornaments, and were as trim as a lady's parlor. The 
regiment was said to be one of the best appointed in the 
service. The men seemed to have everything, even to a 
French cook — at least I saw a Frenchman '' pa7^lez vous- 
ing '' over his pots and pans, with a funny cap on his 
head from which was suspended a red tassel. He gestic- 
ulated, and scratched his pate, and hopped about in a 
fury because of some meddling with his dishes. Their 
cooking was done in good sheet-iron stoves, plentifully 
supplied with all necessary utensils ; everything was in 
as much order as a man could keep it. As I passed 
round I saw a mess eating their evening meal. One of 



A DAY AT THE CAMPS. 43 

them had observed me with the colonel and asked me to 
join them, which I was glad to do. Coffee, with milk, 
light bread, and beef-steak, made a supper I enjoyed. 
Finding I was from the West, they asked many questions 
and appeared interested in all I told them. 

After supper the men seemed to amuse themselves each 
after his fashion : Many read, one played a flute, several 
were drawing, one was rigging a ship, another carving a 
figure out of wood, while others sang, talked and laughed. 
Leaving the camp, we had proceeded some distance 
from the lines, when we met, pacing along with a half 
dozen soldiers, a woman who wore the bloomer costume 
with a hat and feather. 

The colonel told me she was a " daughter of the regi- 
m^ent," and that several accompanied the troops, resided 
in camp, and were considered almost a necessary part of 
the arrangement. I had always thought the daughter a 
young, pretty girl. The person we met was a middle-aged 
woman, and not pretty either. 

The colonel was silent as v*^e rode. Presently he said : 
" I should like to see my command as well cared for as 
that. But I tell you w^iat it is, Captain Phil, the Western 
boys let none exceed them in love for the Union, and will 
fight for it, well cared for or not." 

Next day I had much to tell and I felt myself of con- 
siderable consequence, for the men surrounded me, ask- 
ing questions concerning their fellow-soldiers. I was 

very important, and on Corporal T 's modifying some 

statement I had made, I threw my leg impertinently in 
his direction, and said : 

** Get along, you did not see it." Catching John's eye 
at the moment, its cold expression froze the conceit out of 
me. 

That evening, when we were alone, he said I had 



44 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

humiliated him by my impertinence, adding that he had 
brought me with him to improve my health, and give me 
an opportunity for other improvement ; that the moment 
he saw the least deterioration in either manners or morals, 
that moment he should start me home ; he gave me warn- 
ing he was watching me closely. 

I was so mortified I could not sleep, and before break- 
fast the next morning sought the corporal and begged his 
pardon. 

" All right, Captain Phil," he said, when I made my 
apology. " We all get on a high horse sometimes." 

I told John of what I had done, and he said : *' It was 
what I expected of you, Phil." When he called me 
*^ Phil " I was satisfied ; it was ^' Philip " when he was dis- 
pleased ; short and stern. 

About this time I had my blood fired on hearing a regi- 
ment singing "" John Brown," and seeing a thousand men 
march to time to this refrain, after the fashion of the 
psalm-singing Roundheads of Cromwell's time. ^^ His 
soul is marching on" was always on my lips. 

While we were in camp at that place President Lincoln 
and several of his Cabinet visited us. I was away at the 
time, and was disappointed at not seeing him. John told 
me he was so kind in his manner to the men and compli- 
mented them on their drill. 

Many of the boys had but one shirt each. If one 
wanted a clean one, he would strip off that he had, wash 
it in the first creek, and dry it on his back. Often fif- 
teen or twenty men went out together to do their wash- 
ing, making a frolic of it, throwing water over each other, 
and jesting and laughing like boys in reality. I thought 
of Joseph on these occasions. AVe had heard nothing of 
him since he or she left the camp. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FORWARD — A NEW CAMP. 

THE officers talked of a removal of camp further into 
Virginia. In a little while orders came to that effect, 

and soon, as Corporal I said, '' we spurned the 

sacred soil beneath our feet like common dust." 

Passing a tent where they were pulling up stakes, Pri- 
vate W , who was singing at the top of his voice, 

hailed me with : 

** What miserable worms we be I 

And we can't calculate, 

With any kind of certainty. 

What is to be our fate." 

" That is as true as gospel. Captain Phil. That Widow 
Bedott was a mighty smart woman. She could come it 
over a man, I know. My Sally would stand a poor 
chance if the widow was to try it on me. 

" Now, you see, I don't know whether it is to be my 
fate to shuffle off with a dose of cold lead from a reb's 
rifle or die decently in my bed, with Sally crying over 
me. I hope the Grays will give me a chance before I do 
go, though ; for I should not like to pass up yonder and 
have Father Abraham ask me what I had done for my 
country, and not be able to point to one traitor sent to 
his account. He might cast me among the rebs below, 
where I would have a pretty warm time of it.'* 

Without waiting for a reply he began again: 

** What miserable," etc. 



46 CA P TA IN- PHIL. 

The place selected for the new camp was a beautiful 
spot, with a creek so near we had to walk but a few rods 
to have one of the finest bathing places in the country. 
Here discipline was much more strict ; scouting and picket 
guard duty began to be rather dangerous, and skirmish- 
ing was frequent. 

The camp was regularly laid out, the colonel's, lieu- 
tenant colonel's, surgeon's, major's, and quarter-master's 
tents were in a line ; the colonel's in the center, after 
these came those of the captains and lieutenants ; then 
those belonging to the men, backed by the wagons ; the 
sutler's bringing up the rear. 

The usual routine was — up at half-past four at reveille, 
battalion drill from five to seven, at seven breakfast, 
company drill at nine. After dinner we had leisure until 
four o'clock, at which time battalion drill again for two 
hours, supper at half-past six, roll call at nine, tattoo 
at half-past, when all lights must be extinguished. 

The sutler's tent was the great rendezvous for all 
idlers off duty. There the news of the camp was retailed 
by the crowd always about it. John had forbidden me 
to go there, except when sent. The Fourth of July came, 
and we prepared to celebrate it with a good dinner. We 
had procured ham and chickens ; a farmer's wife was to 
bake us a pudding, and I determined I would contribute 
a can of peaches, a large number of which were for sale at 
the sutler's tent, the luscious fruit pictured on the out- 
side. 

I made my purchase, and can in hand passed along to 
our quarters, the ^' boys " calling after me : ^' Going to 
celebrate the Fourth, Captain Phil ? " " Sly dog, Phil," etc., 
I had no idea w^hat they meant, until our pudding was 
put on the table, and John proceeded to open the peaches. 
The laugh at my expression of blank astonishment was 






M 



^/ \ 




■OJt'- 



CLARY. 



I 



FORWARD—A NEW CAMP, 47 

loud and long when the can was found to be filled with 
whiskey. 

Many of the surrounding farms were deserted by the 
white inhabitants, and the negroes alone left to take care 
of them. They came about the camp selling butter, eggs, 
pies, cakes, etc., for which they obtained enormous prices. 
Having plenty to eat and no master, and being kindly 
treated by our men, they enjoyed the only freedom they 
had ever known, and were happy. 

We had much amusement with them. One evening 
near our supper time a woman, black as ebony, made 
her appearance mounted on a miserable, shaggy old horse, 
and carrying a basket of eggs. 

As she neared us she tossed and bridled, simpered and 
hung her head, in the most ridiculous manner, as though 
she was mimicking and exaggerating the airs and graces of 
some young belle. Her manner, together with her gro- 
tesque appearance, attracted attention, and she soon had 
a crowd following her. 

She was very ugly, had a large mouth, no teeth, a 
broad flat nose, high cheek-bones, and gray woolly hair, 
frizzed into some sort of imitation of curls. Her dress 
w^as a skirt of a species of light material, having on it 
flounces of blue, green and red shining muslin, the waist 
was black silk, low in the neck, with a cape made of 
a piece of dirty musquito bar, and her arms were bare. 
On her head was a faded pink silk bonnet, loaded with 
chicken feathers and soiled artificial flowers, and over all 
she held an old torn green parasol. 

The horse was a worn out field animal, blind of one 
eye — lame of one leg — so thin we could count its ribs, 
and having a singular wheeze. She sat on a piece of 
torn, faded carpet, and guided her steed with a rope for a 
bridle. 



48 CAP TA IN PHIL. 

As she passed, Jim, the captain's servant, a spruce 
dandy mulatto,came out of his master's tent and stopped 
to look at her with an expression of contempt and disdain 
on his face. 

No sooner did she see him than she began to simper 
and repeat her fine airs. The men, almost convulsed, 
called to him to hasten and help her from her horse, that 
he had made a conquest, etc. But muttering something 
about "poor white trash's niggers," he retreated to his 
master's quarters. 

She got off her horse, sidled, spread out her skirts and 
flirted her parasol in so comical a way that the bystanders 
fairly roared with laughter, which she evidently thought 
complimentary, for she nodded her head in acknowledg- 
ment and walked off, her short skirts showing her bare, 
bony ankles above her cowhide shoes. 

" Come here, Caton, and see the black Meg Merrilies,'* 
called one of the men to him. 

"My name's Clary," simpering and courtesying. 

'" Clary, Claiy, quite contrary. 
How does your garden grow ? " 

"I hab no garden, massa. I hab eggs." 

Her eggs were soon sold. She kept tight hold of the 
basket, however, and would deliver none until she had 
received her money, counted it, and put it in the bosom of 
her dress. 

Caton admired her bonnet. 

" Yes, massa, I's allys in de fashion — poor white folks' 
niggers neber hab no fashions/' She tossed and strutted, 
and spread her skirts and turned round, coming near 
upsetting her eggs as she did so. 

" Where did you get that fine horse ? '* 



FOR WARD— A NE W CAMP, 4§ 

" Massa Tom done gib him to me ; field niggers allys 
walk, Clary allys rides." 

" What's the price of shoes, Clary ? '* 

She made no reply except to roll her eyes until only the 
whites were visible, and, getting on a stump, mounted her 
horse, pulling her scant short dress so tight in order to cover 
her feet, that she raised her knees nearly to her chin. We 
stood almost stifled with laughter, while she bowed and 
smirked, and took her departure, talking to herself as she 
went. 

We afterwards heard she was " streaked,'' as the negroes 
expressed it — *^ a little out of her mind." She was harm- 
less, and the person who owned her let her dress as she 
pleased. ^* But," added the man who told me, "' she's no 
fool about money." 

While on the subject of contrabands, I must not forget 
one belonging to our regiment. His mother, a free col- 
ored woman living in Washington, sold him to a member 
of one of the Rhode Island regiments for fifty cents. 
He presented him to our men as pet and plaything, and 
a smarter little imp never lived. Apple-headed, round 
faced, black and saucy, he was as imitative as a Chinese. 
In a marvelously short time he learned the Zouave drill 
perfectly, and, standing a la Napoleon^ would put the men 
through it with the precision and gravity of a drill master. 
Thievish and tricky, he was a constant source of trouble 
as well as amusement. He was teased and petted, and 
although not eleven years of age, knew no home but the 
camp, where he was careless and happy. 

Caton, of whom I have spoken, belonged to our mess ; 
he was a fine active fellow, just eighteen years of age. 
He and I spent much of our leisure together, and visited 
the fields for berries, of which there was an abundance. 
The negroes drove a thriving trade selling the fruit in the 
4 



5o CAPTAIN PHIL 

camp. You could tell their whereabouts in the bushes by 
their songs and hymns. 

*' O, there will be weeping, 
Weeping, weeping, weeping, 
O, there will be weeping, 

At the judgment geat of Christ," 

was a prime favorite with the old slaves. 
They also sang with great unction, 

** Where, O, where is the good Elijah, 
Where, O, where is the good Elijah, 
Who went up in the chariot of fire, 
Way over in the promised land. 
By and by we'll go home to meet him. 
By and by we'll go home to meet him, 
By and by we'll go home to meet him, 
Way over in the promised land.'* 
And another : 

^'Ole Massa Deaf 
He's a very little man. 
He goes from door to door ; 
He kills some sons 
And he wounded more. 
Good Lord remember me. 
Good Lord remember me. 
Remember me as the years roll round, 
Good Lord remember me." 

They had a great partiality for ^^ Dixie/* The story 
went, that a man named Dixie who had many slaves was 
very kind to them, and they believed that when he died 
he was taken bodily to heaven to dwell with the blessed ; 
and, therefore, their heaven was " Dixie's Land." 

I remember at home how puzzled I was at seeing the 
words ^^ Dixie Land " painted over the door of a great 
stable where street railroad horses were kept. John ex- 



FOR WARD— A NE W CAMP. g 1 

plained that the heaven of the slave and that of the horse 
was the same — rest from labor. 

Belonging to some regiments near were two vivandieres, 
who went among the men with as much unconcern as 
though men themselves. They were true-hearted, kind, 
good women, bright and cheerful. One of them wore the 
bloomer costume, and she was very pretty. Their hus- 
bands were with the regiments. Generally they had little 
luxuries for sale, did jobs of mending, or washed for the 
men, always looking after any who were sick. We met 
one of them in the bushes gathering berries ; she put many 
questions to us, telling us her history in return. 

Her husband and son were in the army ; she only wished 
she had a dozen sons to put there — she hated a seces- 
sionist as she did a rattlesnake, and would shoot one as 
soon as she would a burglar or mad dog. She charged 
us to do our duty, that our mothers might not be ashamed 
of us, and declared if the regiment ever faced the foe she 
would have a crack at them, for they had turned upon the 
country which gave them bread and protected them, and 
they would turn upon the mother who gave them life and 
suckled them. 

Thus she concluded, and shouldering her basket of 
fruit she walked off. 

One bright day Caton and I went to bathe ; after which 
we crossed a field to a spot where we thought we saw 
mulberry trees, but they proved to be trees of another 
kind. Taking off our shoes and shaking the loose dirt out, 
we walked down the pebbly bottom of a little stream 
which wound through the woods and meadows, to a place 
where it crossed a country road. AVe sat down idling 
with our feet in the water. Suddenly we heard the tramp 
of horses* hoofs on the smooth dirt road. Caton got upon 
his knees and crawled forward in the bushes in the direc- 



52 Captain PHtL 

tion of the sound. In an instant he fell back, his hand 
upon his mouth. I was silent, knowing there was danger ; 
and following him in obedience to a sign he gave me, 
crept silently into a thicket. We had scarce gained its shel- 
ter when two horsemen rode directly past where we lay in 
ambush, and halted at the opening where we had been 
sitting. They were secesh officers in uniform, a captain 
and lieutenant, evidently reconnoitering. 

Reining in their horses, they gazed around for a few 
moments, to make sure they were not observed, then pro- 
ceeded to an eminence a few yards to the right and 
stopped. The lieutenant kept watch, while the captain, 
taking a glass from his pocket, raised himself in his stir- 
rups, and swept the position of our camp and the sur- 
rounding country. They were across the road, but so 
near us that, parting the twigs, we could see every mo- 
tion, and hear the sound of suppressed voices, but could 
not distinguish the words. 

As we lay thus Caton raised himself noiselessly on his 
elbow, took sight, and, ere I knew his intention, fired 
once, and again. The arm which held the telescope fell, 
shattered, by the captain's side, their horses reared, both 
men wheeled about ; another shot from Caton, and, with 
" By heavens, an ambush ! " they galloped past our hid- 
ing-place and disappeared up the road. 

Telling me to run for it, ^as they might return, Caton 
darted forward and seized the broken telescope as a 
trophy. We both plunged into the bushes which skirted 
the stream, bending low that we might not be seen, and 
thus we ran like hares for almost a mile, ere we paused 
to take breath. I never had such a race in my life. A 
half dozen times I was certain they were behind us, 
and once, when the limb of a tree caught in my cap and 
dragged it from my head, I was sure one of them had 



FORIVAJ^D—A NEW CAMP. S3 

seized me ; with a deprecatory exclamation, which caused 
Caton, as he turned to see what was the matter, to stump 
his toe and nearly reach the ground head foremost, I in- 
creased my speed. 

I lay panting upon the earth not quite sure of my safety, 
while Caton examined and exulted over his capture of 
the telescope, which indeed was a very line and hand- 
somely mounted field-glass. 

Starting up after a minute, he exclaimed, " I ought to 
be killed for a coward ; Captain Phil, we could have 
taken those men prisoners into camp as well as not ! '' 

" How so ; I had no arms ? " 

'^ No, but I could have fired at and disarmed the other ; 
then you would have had arms and we could have had 
the prisoners. My thought was that they had a party 
behind ; now I believe we ran from two men, and one of 
them wounded." 

I was satisfied with the thing as it was, and said so. 
After a short rest we started for camp, finding we had 
strayed much further away than we thought, for which we 
had a sharp reprimand. 

Caton took intense pleasure in exhibiting his glass, and 
telling how he hit the captain. For my part it was as 
near the enemy as I cared to be under the circumstances. 
It was some time before I got over the feeling I had when 
he fired, and I expected every moment to see the horse- 
men spring into the bushes. 

A few days after, John and a couple of others were out 
in a clearing, when suddenly a body of horsemen bore 
down on them. They had only time to throw themselves 
flat on the ground, hiding beneath the branches of a 
newly felled tree, when the party came sweeping past. 
Happily they were unobserved by their foes, whom they 
watched from their leafy covert. 



54 caPtaW PHIL 

The men delighted in these hair-breadth escapes, but 
joined in saying they preferred death to imprisonment 
among the rebels. I greatly enjoyed hearing the scouts 
relate their adventures, glorying as they did over the 
many times they had eluded the foe. They considered 
it a tame performance of duty unless they had " tricked 
the rascals." 

The rainy days of our life in that camp were the most 
trying ones to me. Although I was well and strong, John 
would not let me expose myself. I had to keep under 
shelter. When he was on guard I had a sum to do, or 
problem to solve, to employ me during his absence. 

The men laughed at me and called John the '' school- 
master," but he thought it best, and expected me to obey. 
I did obey, knowing that if I rebelled 1 should be sent 
home. I felt it was right, although it was hard to be 
laughed at, and made me seem more like a boy than I 
wished to appear. John was particular in the perform- 
ance of his duties, and exacted no more of me than he 
imposed upon himself. 



I 



CHAPTER VIII. 

IN THE VAN OF THE ARMY. 

ANOTHER onward move. Several regiments were 
ordered forward, among them that to which John 
belonged. So we were the very outposts of the army, 
continually exposed to the attacks of the enemy. 

The men gloried in their position. Skirmishing parties 
were out every day, and a man w^ent on picket duty with 
many doubts in his mind as to his getting back. 

Standing in an open field, or lying in the grass by a 
fence corner, behind a tree or clump of bushes, the 
picket guard kept watch, challenging every living thing 
which ventured within fifteen paces with ^' Halt," at the 
same time presenting bayonet with '^ Who goes there ? " 
and an injunction to advance and give the countersign, 
which must be done ^' with arms thrown down and hands 
raised above the head." 

If this demand was not instantly complied with the 
picket fired, and called for the sergeant of the guard, 
which call passed from post to post, until it reached that 
officer. He then hastened to the spot, to inquire into 
the cause of the outcry and take charge of the prisoner 
if there was one. 

Sometimes the causes of alarm were laughable enough. 
One night not only were the pickets excited, but the dis- 
turbance spread to camp, and produced for a time some 
anxiety there. 

It turned out to have been occasioned by a cow and her 



56 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

calf, which upon being ordered to halt and give the coun- 
tersign by an over-eager or over-frightened picket, and not 
obeying, were fired upon, whereat they had dived into the 
underbrush. The noise made by the calf was supposed 
to be cries of the wounded, and word went round that 
the enemy had attacked us. 

Another time a man was caught who confessed he had 
been hiding in the woods, and had ventured near at night 
in hopes of catching the countersign ; he and others wish- 
ing to penetrate the camp for information. He was shot 
in the shoulder, and when he found he could not escape 
he placed his hand to his mouth and gave a warning cry, 
exactly resembling that of an owl. 

One day John led in a boy about eleven years old, who 
had approached the post and thrown up his arms. When 
told to advance, he said his father had sent him with a 
message to the colonel and he could deliver it to no one 
else. He was taken to the colonel's quarters. He was 
not the least afraid. He said his father was a Union 
man and that the secessionists stole his horses. His bus- 
iness with the colonel was to inform him that in an old 
mill, a few miles off, the rebels had secreted a cannon and 
some ammunition which they had brought from Fairfax. 
A rumor having reached them that our troops were on the 
move, they concealed their treasure and ran, their move- 
ments being quickened by the sight of a skirmishing 
party near. 

The colonel ordered some half-dozen men out, the boy 
acting as their guide, and a party of skirmishers in the 
advance. They brought the cannon and ammunition 
away. 

Our pickets extended three miles from camp. They 
remained out twenty-four hours at a time, taking a day's 
rations with them. The posts were about two hundred 



IN THE VAN OF THE ARMY. 57 

yards apart, and two men, or more, were stationed at a 
post, one watching while the other slept. At night they 
generally advanced about a half-mile, the enemy doing 
the same, which brought them rather close sometimes, 
and caused a good deal of nervousness to those perform- 
ing picket duty for the first time. 

Caton told me privately that the first night he was out 
he thought he had the ague, his teeth chattered and he 
shook in his shoes all the time he watched. It rained, be- 
sides, and when the wind swept among the trees he was 
sure it was the rebels coming. It was so dark he could 
hardly see his hand before him, and he fancied there were 
strange noises in the air, and strange Hghts dancing in the 
marshes. His mind would run on his snug room at home, 
with its bright carpet and warm curtains, and the stories 
he had heard in his childhood of things natural and super- 
natural, which filled him with a dreadful awe. He tried 
to whistle, but he could make no sound ; and every now 
and then he awoke his comrade from sheer fear and a de- 
sire to hear a voice. When ashamed to do this he chal- 
lenged a tree, or a stump, or fence-rail, to convince him- 
self he was not afraid. With the appearance of day- 
light all these feelings vanished. Caton was con- 
sidered one of the most recklessly brave men in the 
company. 

It was about this time we got the full particulars of 
the affair which happened on the 17th of June, at Vienna; 
John had a letter from a friend who was there. He 
gave him an account of the death of Daniel Sullivan, who 
was wounded in the arm and bled to death. The great 
tears ran down John's cheeks as he read the brave 
words he uttered with his dying breath. When told to 
*^fall in ;" he said, ^' I wish I could." And when a com- 
rade asked how he felt, he raised his shattered arm with 



58 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

his whole one, and, saying *^ Boys^ I am for the Union 
still;' died. 

^^Phil," said John, when he handed me the letter, 
" there must be something in country when a man will 
speak for it with his dying breath. Those are proud 
words and should be on his tombstone. I would be 
content to go like that." He knew Dan. 

Several prisoners were brought into camp, who were 
taken while prowling around the pickets. They were 
sullen and dogged ; evidently expected ill-treatment ; 
would answer no questions, and seemed only anxious 
not to fall into the hands of the Zouaves. 

Lieutenant G sometimes tired of camp fare and 

would go to a farm-house near and get a meal. His 
favorite resort was the house of an old secesh lady just 
outside our pickets, whose slaves, for a good price paid 
their mistress, prepared his chicken and pone bread to 
his entire satisfaction ; the old lady sitting by him while 
he ate, and throwing in her spicy remarks gratis — by way 
of relish. 

There was a thin little fellow in the company, a good 
soldier, devoted to the Stars and Stripes, but stingy and a 
gourmand. He was always wanting ^^ something nice ; " 
and if he captured a chicken, or came across any other 
luxury, he kept it for his private gratification. 

This man, hearing of the lieutenant's occasional din- 
ners, thought he would try the madam's larder. Stealing 
out of camp, he made a circuit not to be suspected, and 
went there. His mess, observing the pains he took to go 
alone, suspected and determined to trick him. Passing 
the pickets on his way back, picking his teeth after the 
full enjoyment of his feast, he was greeted with : 

"Why, what is the matter. Smith ? " 

" Nothing." 



I.y THE VAX GF THE ARMY. $9 

"Where have you been? You look so strange about 
the eyes." 

"Just over here;" and not wishing to explain he 
went on. 

" Smith, hello ! Why, you are sick, man ! " 

" Never was better in my life." 

"Well, if I looked as you do, I would make tracks for 
the doctor." 

Smith continued towards his quarters, between the 
remarks to which he had been subjected, and the quantity 
he had eaten, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. About 
to enter he encountered another of "the boys." 

" I am sorry to see you so ill. Can I do anything for 
you ?" 

Smith darted to his knapsack and drew out his looking 
glass. He was pale with apprehension, saw it, and seiz- 
ing his blanket lay down. His tormentor came near. 
" Have you eaten anything which has disagreed with 
you ? " 

" Xo," with a groan, and placing his hand on his 
stomach. 

Another stepped forward. 

" Depend upon it, he's poisoned. See, he bears it in 
his face ; he is blue about his eyes." 

"Yes, I know it." 

" Gracious ! gracious ! that is it. She wished all man- 
ner of evil to us, and she has poisoned me." He groaned 
and writhed in real agony, telling where he had been, 
and begging some one to send for the doctor. 

The doctor was brought. Some supposed he was in 
the secret. He administered a great dose of tartar- 
emetic, which made Smith fearfully ill, so that he was 
unable to go to drill, but lay tossing and moaning, per- 
fectly satisfied that he had been poisoned. The sergeant 



6o CAPTAIN PHIL. 

was a friend of mine, and he told me the joke. It was a 
treat to the men to hear him tell of that dinner. He 
even warned Lieutenant G — — of the fate which awaited 
him if he continued to go there for meals. 

The men resorted to all kinds of expedients to pass 
the time. I saw a tree which they had decorated with 
crackers, by boring holes in them and suspending them 
by strings. These crackers bore the addresses of the 
most prominent rebels, together with the compliments of 
the company, expressed in terms which were more strong 
than polite. 

The poor dogs in this region were made to suffer for 
secession. The men caught them and plastered them with 
papers containing jibes and jeers, then tying tin pans to 
their tails, drove them, with kicks and blows, in the 
direction of the rebel camp. They made effigies of the 
secesh leaders, and hung or burnt them, and even 
fastened messages of insult and defiance to the scare- 
crows in rebel corn-fields, which the Graybacks returned 
in kind, for they despised the *^ Yankees.'* 

Parties who had gone out would not unfrequently 
return laden with Dreserves, pickles and other dainties. 
These things were paid for if perfectly convenient. If 
not, they were put down to the credit or discredit of 
Uncle Sam. 

If there was a chicken stew, or a roast of mutton, or a 
piece of fine pork served, and the question was put : 
'' Where did you get it ? " the reply always was, ^' We lit 
on it," which had a peculiar meaning, and was perfectly 
satisfactory and well understood by all. 

If an officer's nose chanced to be regaled by a savory 
smell proceeding from a young porker tied between 
stakes, or a lamb (the fleece not far off) zealously watched 
by a hungry squad, his attention, at that particular 



IN THE VAN OF THE ARMY. 6i 

moment, was almost aJvvays directed to an opposite direc- 
tion, and there was no word or unpleasant remark from 
him, not even if a portion of the roast found its way to 
his own table. 



CHAPTER IX. 



HOW I BECAME A PRISONER. 



A FARMER whose fields had been devastated by the 
movements of the troops, made complaint of his 
loss, and an amount sufficient to cover it, was, by General 
McDowell, ordered to be paid to him. 

In gratitude, he told our mess he would supply them 
with milk and vegetables if sent for, for he dared not 
convey them to camp. 

One morning I was sent for a bucket of milk. I re- 
ceived it, and was returning, when I happened to see in 
a field further on some bushes which promised berries. 
Hiding my bucket in the tall grass, I proceeded to 
examine the bushes. Getting a few berries — they only 
whetted my appetite — I searched for more. 

On the edge of a cornfield, in the angles of a Virginia 
worm fence, I saw, I thought, a further supply. For- 
getting John's caution about whistling when out from 
camp, I began ^' Yankee Doodle " as I trudged over a 
potato field which lay between m.e and the coveted fruit. 

I found a prize, ripe and luscious, and was in its full 
enjoyment, with my back turned to the corn, when a man 
suddenly sprang from among the stalks, and laid his hand 
upon my shoulder. I knew, ere he spoke, that I was a 
prisoner, and felt cold to my toes. 

*^ You belong to the camp over there, you young aboli- 
tion rascal ? " he said, eyeing me keenly, 

I could not speak. 



HOW I BECAME A PRISONER. 6^ 

" How many men have they ? " 

I did not know, and I said so. 

He put other questions concerning officers, prisoners, 
etc. ; what they said of Manassas ? when they intended 
to move ? some of which I answered, others I could 
not. '' Shake the truth out of him, if it is in him ! " said 
a rough voice, and a coarse, thick-set man appeared 
from among the corn. 

I trembled all over ; knew that I did so ; was ashamed 
of it, and tried to steady myself, but could not. Turning 
to the first comer, who had not an unkind look, I begged 
him to let me go. 

He shook his head, '' No, no, youngster, I let none off 
who wear this color ; " he touched me on the shoulder. I 
thought of John, home, the camp, everything. INIy heart 
sunk and tears came into my eyes. The struggle to keep 
them back almost strangled me ; the veins swelled in my 
throat, my face became red, but pride and the thought of 
appearing like a coward conquered. I would not be a 
puling prisoner. I forced back all my grief and stood 
calm, but what would I not have given to have been 
with John ? 

The second comer, who had eyed me harshly, now said : 

*' We had best get under cover, Morris." 

They ordered me before them into the cornfield, the 
last speaker informing me that he would put a bullet 
through me if I attempted to run. 

Morris questioned me as to the disposition of several 
men captured a few nights before, and from the threat 
his companion made : "If harm should come to Jake," I 
discovered that he had a brother among them. 

Crossing the corn field we passed over some meadows, 
keeping close to the fences and coming out on the open 
road. They talked in a guarded way, but I gathered 



64 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

from what they said that they belonged to the army at 
Manassas. Although they were dressed in dark plain 
clothes they carried rifles. 

As we proceeded we met several persons whom they 
stopped and conversed with, sending me out of hearing 
distance. Once, in consequence of information they 
received, they took to the woods. I caught the words 
''' skirmishing party," and supposed they were afraid of 
falling in with one. 

Late in the afternoon we reached a farm house hidden 
among the hills, and approached by a bridle path. The 
space before the door was inclosed in a worm fence and 
overgrown with weeds. Turkeys roosted on the top rails 
of the fence, and pigs huddled in the angles. A dog 
kennel, before which was chained a ferocious looking 
dog, occupied one corner. Beside a moss-grown well, 
rolling on a log, were two small negro children, dressed 
in coarse, dirty cotton shirts, which barely came to their 
knees. 

As we reached the gate the dog gave a low growl, and, 
slowly raising himself, attracted the attention of the 
blacks, who tumbled over each other in their efforts to 
get to us. Morris ordered them to the kitchen. They 
retreated backwards, their fingers in their mouths, every 
now and then stumbling over something in their way, 
until they disappeared around the corner of the house 
calling "mammy, mammy." This cry brought a negro 
woman with a skillet in her hand to the door of a hut 
near by. Altogether it was about as dreary a place as I 
had ever seen. 

Crossing the yard we went into the house, which con- 
sisted of three rooms on the ground floor and one above. 
In the first room we entered were two girls, one black 
and one white, each appearing to be about eleven years 



now I BECAME A PRISONER. 65 

old. They were sitting upon the floor building houses 
with corn cobs. 

*' Where is mother ? " was Morris's salutation. 

The sound of his voice brought a lady of about fifty 
from a.n adjoining room. He introduced me to her, 
saying : 

" Here is a prisoner, mother ; I deliver him to you for 
safe keeping. Now let us have something to eat, for I am 
starving." 

I raised my eyes to the old lady's face and felt them 
moisten, as she said : 

" Poor boy ! he is so young." 

The girl put a chair beside me and said, " Sit 
down." 

^^ Poor boy ! Yes, that is the way with you women 
always," said Morris as he went out. 

The old lady went to the door and gave her orders, 
then seated herself and gazed steadily at me. 

With a deep sigh she presently asked : 

*' Are all Lincoln's soldiers as young as you ?" 

I explained that I was no soldier. She put other ques- 
tions to me to which the girl listened eagerly, as did also 
the owners of several woolly heads peeping in at the 
door. Every few minutes the mistress would stamp her 
foot, saying, " Off to the kitchen with you." These imps 
scampered back only to return ere the words had well 
died away. 

"One ob Massa Linkum's gang," I heard one say, 
" he'll cut your head off. Jack." 

" Whar's his tail ? " said another. 

Supper was ready ; I asked permission to wash my 
hands. They pointed to the well, and a negro girl 
brought me a not very clean towel. 

There was hot coffee, hot biscuit, broiled bacon, apple 
5 



66 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

sauce, and roast potatoes on the table. I could not eat, 
although told to do so. 

The meal over, Morris called for Ben. A burly, good- 
natured negro presented himself, and was told to bring 
round the horses. They were brought, and I heard 
Morris charge him to keep a strict watch on me. '' Mind,'' 
was his injunction, '^if he gets off, I will nail your ears to 
the barn door." 

From what I afterwards heard, these men were not 
regular soldiers, but were employed as spies, and I be- 
lieve were accomplices of the man taken by us a few 
nights before. 

It was the saddest evening I ever spent in my life. I 
longed for night and bed. It was not yet dark, and as I 
sat looking out the window, a saying of John's came into 
my mind — '' Make the best of the circumstances which 
surround you." 

I turned and made an effort to amuse Carrie, for so they 
called the little white girl. She was quite as tall as I w^as, 
and was astonished when I told her my age. We were 
soon good friends. 

She said I did not look as if I was so very bad, and 
asked why I was among the Lincoln soldiers ? At this the 
old lady burst out about our cruelty and injustice, declar- 
ing we had come to plunder and rob, and drive them 
from their homes ; that we were like the Egyptians 
whom the Lord smote. I did not reply. 

I asked to go to bed. " I reckon you can get along in 
the dark," she said ; *^ the moon shines in the room." 

^^ Certainly," I replied, "but will you not let me read 
here ? " Taking my Testament from my pocket, where I 
happened to have it, I proceeded to do, what I had prom- 
ised my mother if possible never to omit : read a chapter. 
The old lady laid down her knitting and watched me 



HOW I BECAME A PRISONER. 6^ 

for a few moments, then requested me to read aloud. 
When I finished she called Ben, and giving him the can- 
dle told him to see me to bed and bring it back. The 
negro led me up-stairs into a comfortable room and waited 
until I took off my shoes. 

"That will do, Ben." I was about to throw myself 
down with my clothes on. 

" I must hab youse clobes, massa, for fear youse git off 
in the night." 

" I do not know what they want with me, Ben ; I am 
no soldier, only a boy." 

"Plenty no bigger dan youse soldiers down yonder," 
pointing, as I supposed, in the direction of Manassas. 
" Massa Morris say, he'll keep all he kin ketch to make 
up for some Massa Linkum tuck." 

" What will they do with me, Ben ? " 

" Make you dig in de ditch, I reckon ; de niggers 
dig, but dey git sick, so dey put de poor white trash 
at it." 

"Where is your master, Ben ? " 

" Ole massa dead ; was frown off his horse jumping a 
fence ; he great horse racer ; lib in a big house, de stable 
better dan dis place ; but he war 'solvent, and all de nig- 
gers was sold, 'cept my wife and me ; and ole missus' 
brudder gib her dis place to come to, wid de childers ; it's 
nigh gone ten years since ole massa dun got killed." 

Seeing I was undressed, Ben took my clothes and left 
me, fastening the door with a chain after him. I never 
believed I could feel so miserable. I knew John was 
sleepless on my account. I shuddered when I thought 
of being taken to the rebel camp, and determined to make 
my escape. Feeling uncomfortable on the feather bed, 
I lay down on the floor, where Ben laughed to find me in 
the morning. Dressing myself, I went down and washed 



6S CAPTAIN PHIL. 

at the well ; breakfast was ready, the morning bright ; I 
felt hopeful and ate heartily. 

After breakfast I tried to amuse myself with Carrie and 
the negro children, but the day dragged ; if I went out 
doors I was watched, if I sat still curious eyes were upon 
me. About eight o'clock the old lady came in, and sitting 
down to her knitting questioned me about my family. I 
told her my little story. How John and I were alone in 
the world — all in all to each other. I saw she was 
touched, then I begged her to let me go. She shook her 
head ; I turned to Carrie and asked her to beg for me ; 
she jumped on her mother's lap, and putting her arms 
around her said : '^ Let him go, mother ; how would you 
feel if it was I who was kept a prisoner from you ? " 

^' But/' she dropped her knitting in her lap, '' Morris 
will be very angry." 

^' Let me go," I pleaded; "my mother was a South- 
erner and she would have let your son go, I know." 

" Well," she said, " I am a mother, and I hope a Chris- 
tian, if I am a secessionist, and for your mother's sake I 
promise you your freedom. It don't seem right to a Vir- 
ginia lady to keep white blood in bondage ; but if you 
were really one of Lincoln's soldiers I would keep 
you if I had to guard you myself." 

I could scarce express my gratitude. 

" You must wait until to-morrow, when Ben has to take 
a load to the Run and only old Zeke will be about the 
house." 

** Suppose Morris comes to-day, mother," said Carrie. 

" He will not be back until Saturday." 

Greatly relieved, and excited at the thought of getting 
away, I entered into all Carrie's amusements. 

Towards evening I went out to take a walk. Passing 
the kitchen, a log hut which stood some ten feet from 



HOW I BECAME A PRISONER. 69 

the house, the cook spoke to me. Pausing at the door to 
reply, curiosity detained me for a better look within. 

The bed, which seemed of rags, occupied one side of 
the room, a door and window another, while a third was 
taken up with an enormous fire-place, in which huge logs 
of wood lay smouldering. Supper was in preparation ; an 
oven, broken at the side, the top covered with live coals, 
stood on the hearth ; near it was a coffee pot ; directly in 
front of the fire, propped by a " rock," was a board like 
a boot-jack, supporting a roll of corn bread, which, with 
one end resting in the ashes, was browning, and across 
the chimney was a crazy old crane, from which hung sev- 
eral pots and kettles. 

A six months' baby lay upon the bed, from under which 
protruded an old basket filled with onions and dried 
herbs, two or three old shoes, a hoe, and some broken 
crockery and rags. 

Sitting on the hearth, in his one dirty garment, over a 
pan of potatoes, which had been boiled, then thrown into 
water, and off which he was rubbing the skins to have 
them ready for supper, was a blear-eyed little negro boy. 

The sight was a novel one to me, accustomed as I had 

been to Mrs. B 's scrupulously clean kitchen. It did 

not increase my appetite for supper. 

Carrie and the negro girl were trying to sew when I went 
in, but did not appear to make much progress. I made them 
laugh heartily by taking the garment from their hands and 
sewing on it myself. I told them of Joseph, and my as- 
tonishment at his sewing. I also showed them my shirt, 
made by the sewing machine. The old lady asked many 
questions concerning the machines. She had heard a great 
deal of them, but was out of the way of seeing such 
things. I described to her, as well as I could, Wheeler & 
AVilson's machine. Our landlady had one; I kept it in order 



70 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

for her, and often sewed on it ; indeed, I was quite a good 
machine sewer. She seemed astonished at the quantity of 
work they turned out, and remarked that she did not be- 
lieve that the slaves could be taught to use them. 

When I went to bed Carrie whispered that she was 
sorry that I was going next day. I could not express re- 
gret, but I thanked her for her kindness. I wanted to sleep 
that I might awake and find it morning. 

I needed no rousing, but was awake when Ben brought 
my clothes. I saw, impatiently, at breakfast, his lazy ox 
team start, and soon as the meal was over reminded the 
old lady of her promise. 

She took me into her room, drew the window curtains, 
and shut the door ; then, pointing to a frock of Carrie's 
lying on the bed, said : 

" You must put that on ; I have no boy's clothes ; you 
could not go a mile in those you wear without being 
taken again." 

Opening my shirt at the collar, I spread it back, and 
put the dress on over my blouse. Carrie was much stouter 
than I. I was just fastening it, when the latch of the 
door was raised and Carrie begged admittance. I did not 
relish her presence just then, but her mother let her in. 

" O," she exclaimed, '^ he must have a skirt and a hoop. 
Here is this old one which you said I might give 
Milly." 

Her mother objected. 

^^ Why, mother, even the niggers wear hoops on Sun- 
day. I never go from home without one."' 

She had her way, and put it on me. I could not man- 
age it at all ; it popped up before and behind, and I felt as if 
I were going to fly. Carrie clapped her hands and fairly 
danced. When she had parted my hair in the middle, and 
tied an apron over my striped calico frock : 



BOW I BECAME A PRISONER. 71 

'* There I " she said, pushing me towards the glass, after 
she had tied my sun bonnet on. '' Look at yourself." 

I stepped forward and tried to pull the hoop down. 
She threw herself upon the bed and laughed at me. I 
felt uncomfortable enough, but I never should have rec- 
ognized the figure that met my view when I looked into 
the glass as being myself. 

" See, only see, mother," she capered about in ecstasy. 
" Morris himself might meet him and never know him." 

Suddenly she threw up her hands and exclaimed : 
^^ Good gracious, mother, he has no drawers on." 

I looked down at my feet ; there were my blue woolen 
pantaloons conspicuous below my short dress. 

She produced a pair of white drawers and told me to 
roll up my pantaloons, which I did above my knees ; then 
with her aid, holding the hoops, and interrupted by 
bursts of laughter, I got them on. She would not permit 
me to take the hoops off. 

My disguise was complete — but no, my boots would be- 
tray me. What was to be done ? Cut them down. A 
pair of shears was produced. I cut the boots, slit and 
laced them up like buskins, to show my stockings, which 
were white and happened to be passably clean. So we 
hoped my feet would not attract observation. 

The old lady gave me a basket, in which was a paper 
containing some bread and meat, and told me to wait a 
minute while she looked around. 

She came back and said Zeke had not returned from 
mill ; Viney was spinning in the smoke-house, and she 
had sent the little niggers to the corn field ; now was the 
time for me to start. She gave me particular directions 
as to the way I was to go, making me repeat them after 
her. If I should meet any one who questioned me I could 
say 1 had been visiting, and she told me the names of 



7 2 CAPTAIN PHIL 

some of the families about. Carrie was to go with me to 
the lower orchard fence, and point out the road to the old 
mill. As I bade her good-by and thanked her, she said : 

^' Should any of our men fall into your hands, tell your 
brother to remember what a Virginia woman did for you." 

I heartily promised for him that he would. 

We crossed the orchard, from the bottom of which 
tlve old mill could just be seen in the hollow. Going a 
little further, Carrie paused at the meadow fence to say 
good-by, but staid to see me over it. Mounting the 
rails I forgot my hoops, made a jump, and hung suspended 
by a large splinter of the top rail, looking for all the 
world like a great crab. Carrie dropped on the grass, put 
her face in her lap and laughed till the tears came, before 
she could move to my assistance. At length she helped 
me down, warning me to be more careful in future. I 
turned to go, and had made a few steps forward, when 
the thought of how kind she had been came over me. 
Putting my hand into the dress pocket where I had drop- 
ped it, I took out my gold -collar-button, which had my 
initials on it, and begged her to keep it in remembrance 
of the kind acts she had done. She hesitated, but finally 
accepted it. 1 drew closer to drop it in her palm, stooped 
and kissed her, then walked quickly on. When I turned 
and looked back she was not to be seen. 

I felt conscious and awkward in my new dress, and 
being afraid that if I met any one I should betray myself, 
I kept as closely as possible under cover. 

The old mill was about a mile distant. My directions 
were to keep to the left, taking a bridle-path down the 
valley until I came to a red brick house. I was then to 
turn to the right, and on reaching the forks of the road 
to take the right fork ; follow this until I reached a syca- 
more tree blasted by lightning, which stood at the head of 



HOW I BECAME A PRISONER. 73 

a ravine, turn up the ravine and I would come out on the 
public road about a mile from the spot where Morris had 
captured me. I repeated these directions as I trudged 
along in the road leading to the old mill, which was an 
old ruin partially destroyed by fire, and stood by a brawl- 
ing little stream in the valley. I had almost reached it 
when I thought I heard voices. I paused to be sure, but 
concluded I was mistaken, when I distinctly heard a voice 
coming from the direction of the mill. I instantly left 
the path and struck into the woods among the under- 
brush. Lying down I listened. 

Then, determined to find out who it was talking, I took 
off the abominable hoop, which had tormented me ever 
since I started, tripping me by catching in everything, and 
without making the least noise, went forward, stopping 
every few minutes to hearken. 

Hidden by the grass and shrubs, I got close to the wall 
of the mill, and creeping along reached a corner where 
the boards had been torn away. The voices were within. 
I stooped and cautiously looked in, when lo ! directly 
opposite me sat Morris, the man who was with him when 
he took me, and another man. 

I fell back in a cold perspiration, and with a rustling 
which I supposed would bring them to the spot, but they 
did not notice it. It was several minutes ere I had cour- 
age to look again. Morris sat with his elbows resting on 
his knees, his chin in his hands, while his friend stood by 
whittling a stick. I'he third person leaned against a wall, 
intently engaged in pushing the dirt back and forth on the 
floor with his foot as he talked. 

" No one who did not know it was here could have found 
it. There is a traitor somewhere," he said. *' Jake told 
me they took it down t'other road. He heard a noise, 
and climbing a tree for a look out, saw them." 



74 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

^' What time was it ? " questioned Morris. 

" Early in the morning." 

"What was he doing here then ! " 

" Don't know/' 

" Perhaps the little chap we took over yonder could 
tell," said Morris's friend. 

I again sunk into the bushes, for I knew they spoke of 
me. I supposed too they talked of the cannon and 
ammunition, for this was the mill where they were 
secreted. When I looked again Morris was up and going. 
He said : 

" We must be off now. We can have it all arranged to- 
morrow night. Joe went so near last night he heard them 
talk. He crawls as noiselessly as a lizard, and is as 
wary as a fox. He thinks we can pick off half a dozen if 
we can do nothing more." 

They left the mill, and I saw them going up the valley 
at a brisk trot. Their horses had been tied some way off 
in the woods. 

When quite sure it was safe, I stepped from my hiding 
place and went to the spot where they had been sitting. 
I found a piece of crumpled paper which I smoothed out. 
On it was a rough but true sketch of our camp, the out- 
posts accurately marked, and beside one or two of these 
was a peculiar figure. 

I put it in my pocket and hastened on, a little nervous 
at the thought of having been so near my captors. 

I soon reached the red house, which I skirted, and went 
ahead, looking out for the forks of the road. I had walked 
a mile or more, supposing every minute I should reach 
them, and fearing I had made a mistake, when I heard 
some one whistling, and saw coming round a turn in the 
road a negro boy riding a bare-backed horse and carrying 
a bag before him. " Sarvent, miss," he said, pulling one 



HO W I BECAME A PRISONER, 75 

of his locks of wool, for he wore no hat. I started at first 
at his address, but looking up boldly returned : 

^^ The road forks near here ? " 

" Just beyond the bend, miss." 

I went on with a lighter heart, soon gained the forks, 
took the one to the right ; then came to the tree struck 
by lightning which marked the ravine. 

It was cool and shady in there. I was tired and hungry, 
so down I sat to rest and eat. After my meal I started 
up the ravine. The distance was greater than I hoped, 
but after a while I saw the high road and soon reached the 
fence. Looking up and down, there was only an old man 
driving a couple of oxen to be seen on the highway. I 
waited until he went past, then climbed the fence and 
gained the road, pushing on. 

There seemed to be but few persons going my way. I 
met two ladies in a carriage, a black man driving them ; 
a man with a cow, and one or two others on horseback. 

It began to get late ; I strained my eyes to see the farm- 
er's house near which I thought I must be, but saw noth- 
ing of it. Fearing I had passed it I paused in perplexity, 
when two horsemen came dashing round a turn in the 
road and nearly ran over me. My heart stood still, and 
I was near fainting ; for they were Morris and his friend. 
They rode on, however, without pausing, Morris only turn- 
ing his head to see if I was hurt. 

An old farmer followed them at a jog trot. I had 
recovered from my fright and ventured to ask him if Mr. 
lived near. 

*' You passed his fields a quarter of a mile back. They 
come to the road right where the two big trees stand." 

" I did not see the house," I said, turning to retrace my 
steps. 

^' Bless you, no, thar's a good smart piece of woods 



^6 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

before you come to that ; the house is in a hollow ; but 
you seem tired, git up behind and I will give you a lift." 
He backed his horse to the fence. 

I thanked him, but declined. 

"Well, you can't miss it now ; you'll stay thar to-night, 

I reckon ; bad times for gals to be out alone. Mr. 's 

an abolitionist, they say." 

I saw how I had made the mistake. I had forgotten 
that the public road did not run past his house. 

That quarter of a mile was a long one, but at length 
the trees were reached, and I plunged into the woods, 
and after a brisk walk saw the house just beyond. 

The landscape began to grow familiar. I knew the 
direction in which the camp lar, and hoped to reach the 
pickets before dark. 

I pressed forward. After some fifteen minutes' fast 
walking, just on the edge of a field I was stopped with 
*^ Halt ! " and saw Caton, who had heard my step and 
stood up from the log where he had been sitting. I heard 
him say, " Davis, here's a girl ;" at which Davis also'pre- 
sented himself. 

I saw they did not know me. I drew nearer, and put- 
ting forward my basket, said : '' Want to buy some 
eggs ? " 

Caton felt in his pockets. 

** I never have a penny, and always owe the sutler every 
cent I get. A boiled egg is a good thing, Davis." 

Davis had no money either. 

Becoming impatient, I tore off my bonnet, with: 

" You do not know me ? " 

They looked in bewildered surprise, then Caton ex- 
claimed : " Captain Phil ! " 

Assisting me over to their side of the fence, they turned 
me round and round, laughing at my appearance, and 



HOW I BECAME A PRISONER. 77 

asking questions. John was not well, they said, and in 
great trouble about me. I broke from them and hurried 
to the camp, still over two miles distant. The gleam of 
the fires, however, seemed to shorten the way. I reached 

the tents just as the men were at supper. Corporal F 

happened to see me first, and, surprised to see a girl in 
the lines at that hour, came to me. He went with me to 
John. As I drew near John was in the act of raising a 
cup of coffee to his lips. I stood still beside him ; he 
looked at me in the waning light ; I smiled, he put up his 
hand and threw off my bonnet. 

" Thank God ! it is Phil." He took me in his arms 
with a warm hug. 

Such a noise as the men made when they heard my 
story. Not a little elated, I had to make the rounds, 
show myself in my new rigging, and tell the tale of my 
capture. 

I took the paper I had found to Colonel F , and 

told him what I had heard. He thought it of sufficient 
importance to double the guard. 

Very glad was I to get back, see John's kind face and 
hear his voice. I was " out of Egypt," and I should en- 
deavor to keep out in future. 

The following night an attack was made upon the 
pickets, but the party was repulsed, and the strange man 
I saw with Morris at the mill was taken prisoner. I 
knew him at a glance. 

My dress and bonnet were hung up as a memorial, 
John saying that if ever opportunity offered I was to send 
Carrie a token of my appreciation of her kindness. I 
did not tell him about the button. I felt quite a hero, 
and am afraid I strutted and sv/aggered considerably, 
very proud of having been a prisoner. 



CHAPTER X. 

AMUSEMENTS IN CAMP. 

THE weather set in wet and gloomy. We had three 
or four days of incessant rain, and everything was 
saturated. During this wet season it came John's turn 
to stand picket guard. When he and Johnston, his 
comrade, came in next morning they presented a dole- 
ful appearance. Wet to the skin, their shoes clogged 
with mud, their trousers daubed, their hair stringing 
about their clay-stained faces, they looked about as un- 
comfortable as any two men could look. John quietly 
went to work to put himself in better condition. John- 
ston had a cup of coffee, then proceeded to give an 
account of his night out : 

" Our position was at the far end of a ploughed field, 
with a sloping pasture on the other side of the fence, and 
not a stump or tree nigh ; our cnly shelter being some 
berry bushes in the fence corner. The rain came down 
in floods as we paced back and forth and tried to *keep 
our powder dry.' Soon the field was a sea of mud, and 
the water ran in a torrent through a ditch made to drain 
it. It was as dark as Egypt ; a man might have slapped 
you in the face and you not know where the blow came 
from. Presently my feet slipped — splash ! dash ! I found 
myself in the ditch, anchored as fast as a Mississippi 
steamer on a snag. I squirmed and tugged to no 
purpose s the more I tried to get out the deeper I 
got in. 



AMUSEMENTS IN CAMP. 79 

** Wharton came to my assistance, and took my rifle, while 
I pat both hands to it and managed at last, on my knees, 
to reach the level field. While drawing myself up by the 
long grass which grew on the sides of the ditch, the roots 
gave way several times, and plunged me to the bottom, 
sousing me. I was minus a boot, but it was no use look- 
ing for it then. Feeling wrathful and savage, I wished 
with all my heart a secesh would come along and let 
me have a pop at him, though how I should see him I 
could not tell. I felt my way to the fence corner and re- 
treated among the bushes. 

" I had been there but a minute when something sharp 
struck me on the leg. I put out my hand to find what it 
was, and caught hold of — what do you think ? A pair of 
horns. I hope I may never see home again if I did not 
think the devil had me. I shrunk back into as small a 
space as I could, and gave a groan. Wharton heard and 
asked what was the matter. He had a match, and some- 
how managed to light it, after a dozen trials, and groped 
his way toward me, sheltering it with his coat. In a min- 
ute he fell back with a low laugh. I had run foul of an 
old billy goat, which had strayed in the pasture and taken 
shelter behind the bushes. 

" You need not laugh," he said, as the mess roared, 
*' there was no fun in it, I can tell you. As soon as it was 
light I tried to find my boot, which I at length did by the 
aid of a fence rail. Of course it was soaked with water 
and filled with mud ; but as there was no remedy, I put 
it on, and with the water oozing out at every step paced 
back and forth until time to change guard. 

^' Now, if that is as pleasant as occupying a comfort- 
able bed, or having a cozy talk with one's sweetheart — 
why tastes differ, that is all." 

The next day the sun came out bright and warm. 



So CAPTAIN PHIL. 

Lieutenant G received an order to take four men and 

go out on a scouting expedition. John was one of the 
men, so I went too. 

Keeping under cover of the woods, sometimes creep- 
ing through the brush, and again plunged to our knees in 
water in swampy meadows, we reached the designated 
place and gained the information desired. Returning, we 
halted in a little valley watered by a noisy brook, which 
had overflowed its banks, and seated ourselves on the 
trunk of a fallen tree to eat our rations, talking the while 
in whispers to one another. 

Presently one of the party pointed to a hill, which, 
bare of trees, rose immediately before us. Following the 
direction of his finger, we saw from behind it light wreaths 
of blue smoke curling in the air. 

Seizing their guns, the men waded the stream, stumbled 
through the high grass on the other side, and on their 
stomachs dragged themselves by hands and knees to the 
top of the hill. Seeing their object, and being unencum- 
bered with arms, I gained it first, and, lying flat, raised my 
head and looked on the other side. A party of some 
twenty-five horsemen, their animals picketed at a little 
distance, were bivouacked on the green meadow near, while 
further off two negroes were busy about a freshly kindled 
fire, evidently going to prepare a meal. Our men had 
paused half-way up to take breath, so, rolling over, I told 
them in a whisper what I had seen, for the foe were so 
near we could hear them talk, and see that they were com- 
pletely armed. Cautiously looking to their rifles, bending 
to the earth, and dragging themselves up with one hand, 
our little party reached the top and gazed below at the 
Graybacks. 

Lounging upon their blankets, which were spread upon 
the wet grass, they smoked and played cards in the sun- 



AMUSEMENTS IN CAMP. 8 1 

shine, occasionally calling to the negroes to '' hurry up 
the cakes." 

The *^boys" burned to have a crack at them ; but it 
was forbidden as hazardous, and we had been charged to 
run into no unnecessary danger. So, after a survey, they 
noiselessly and unwillingly withdrew, and bent their way 
back to camp. 

There was a man in the camp who had the longest 
and thinnest legs and the largest pedestrian digits, as Cap- 
tain Hull called his feet, I ever saw ; a tall, supple fellow ; 
he could twist and twirl himself in all directions as though 
made of India rubber. His nick-iiame was ^' Shanks." It 
was given him because of a peculiar and comical way he 
had of throwing out one leg, as if about to dance, before 
answering when his name was called. 

Good-natured and full of fun, it was the delight of 
the men to get him out for a hoedown. In dancing he 
used his hands almost as much as his feet, and timed his 
movements to his own voice in singing. 

One night the boys had collected outside in the moon- 
light, some lying on the ground and some leaning against 
trees and tent poles, when '' Shanks " suddenly dashed 
among them, and with a funny song began with spirit one 
of his wildest and most grotesque dances. 

In a moment there was a circle formed around him, 
clapping and cheering. He gave them '' Uncle Ned," " O 
Susannah," and a half-dozen other melodies, every now 
and then springing out of the ring and seizing one of the 
boys by the waist, and whirling him until he was out of 
breath before he let him go. At length, tired out, with a 
gesture and grimace he turned a somersault and threw 
himself on the earth to rest, amid loud huzzas. 

The laughter having subsided, there was a silence of 
a few minutes. Somehow '^ Shanks's " singing even his 
6 



82 CAP TAiy PHIL, 

funniest negro songs always made me feel sad. Suddenly 
he broke out with the ^^ Soldier's Dream." His voice was 
clear and beautiful. Several of the men joined in, but as 
he proceeded they dropped off one by one. A subdued 
feeling seemed to creep over them. He continued on 
alone, amid a dead stillness. When he came to the lines 

*' My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er 
And my wife sobbed aloud in her fullness of heart," 

two or three coughed violently and there was a good 
deal of sneezing. 

" Keep to your buffoonery. Shanks," said I, — when he 
had finished. " You have neither wife nor child, and yet 
you try to make spoonies of those who have." 

Shanks bowed and cut a pigeon wing, then seizing the 
speaker by the waist, despite his struggles w^hirled him 
around until he was dizzy. Letting him suddenly go he 
made another somersault, and ere the poor fellow could 
get up the taps sounded, and all dispersed laughing to 
their quarters. 

Before he went to sleep John took his withered wreath 
from the post where it hung, and held it in his hands for a 
few moments : I wondered if he felt " spooney ^ 

A crowed always gathered about the scouts and skir- 
mishers, to hear of their exploits when they came in. One 
day a party who had been absent twenty-four hours 
beyond their time, and had been given up as captured, 
came in mounted on fine horses and driving others before 
them. They had lain out all day in the grassy swamp 
while the enemy in treble their force bivouacked in their 
path. Determined to do something, they resorted to 
stratagem. Fastening their caps and coats amid the tall 
grass, they left one of their number to give the signal. 
Then passed around the foe, dragging themselves through 



AMUSEMENTS IN CAMP. ^Z 

the marsh, and creeping on hands and knees over the 
briers and underbrush. Careless of scratches from 
thorns, they kept on their way as silently as snakes, until 
they got between the rebel party and their horses, which 
they had picketed at a distance from w^here they rested, 
a guard watching while they slept. 

This manoeuvre accomplished, their comrade in am- 
bush fired on the guard and took to cover, firing again 
as he did so. Springing to their feet the rebs banged at 
the caps and coats just visible through the grass, in the 
direction from which the shot had come. Our boys giv- 
ing them a volley from behind, mounted their horses. 
Attacked side and rear, they were afraid of being sur- 
rounded, and, seeing their horses gone, took to the woods 
leaving two of their number dead behind them. 

It was amusing to see some of the men writing home. 
Any thing that Y>^ould hold a piece of paper did duty as 
writing desk, it might be a knapsack or a pot lid. One 
poor fellow in our mess had left ^^ a girl behind him." 
When he attempted an epistle to her he took to the woods, 
out of sight of his comrades, and, stretched at full length 
on his stomach, his paper under his face, he would rest on 
his left elbow and try to write ; scratch his head and 
try again, as though the scratching process brought words 
and ideas. 

Most of the men I knew, however, wrote regularly, and 
several of them kept journals. 

There were in the company a couple of Irishmen whom 
I had known before we joined the army; one of them was 
porter in a store, the other drove an express wagon. Oc- 
casionally they desired letters written, and would call 
upon me to perform the duty for them. 

When Mark wanted to write to Biddy, " His fingers 
were so stiff, faith, he could not hold a pen.'* 



84 CA P TA IN PHIL. 

He never had the least idea of what he wanted to say, 
and if I asked him would answer : ^^ iVnd sure, Captain 
Phil, you know best what to write." 

When I suggested any thing : '' Indade and that's the 
very thing, sure and it's a beautiful letter you write, it is ; 
the praist himself can't make a better fist at it." 

Patrick was married; his great anxiety was that Mary 
would think he was dead, and then marry Luke Morgan. 
^' Be sure to tell her. Captain Phi), not to believe it till 
I write it myself. It was a beautiful writing I did till 
the fever took it all out of me." 

The merry time of our life was from tattoo to taps. 
Then — no matter what hardships the day had brought — all 
was fun and jollity. 

There were dancing, singing, card playing, jumping, 
wrestling, and games of all kinds. Some sat quietly 
criticising the actors in the various scenes around them, 
making occasional quaint remarks ; others read. 

Sometimes a fiddle would scrape " Yankee Doodle,'* 
and enliven the scene. For 

** Yankee Doodle is the tune, 
Americans delight in ; 
Good to fiddle, dance and sing, 
But best of all for fighting." 

A favorite amusement was target shooting. Drawing 
upon a board the figure of a man almost always labeled 
^* Jeff Davis," " Beauregard," or the name of some other 
rebel leader, the heart or other vital part was marked 
and the men fired, the object being to come as near the 
mark as possible. I generally joined in this, and although 
I had never drawn a trigger before I left home, was 
getting to be quite an expert shot. 

I supposethereishardly aboy in the country, now, whg 



AMUSEMENTS IN CAMP, 85 

does not know more than I did about fire arms when the 
war broke out. Muskets, rifles, pistols, all presented the 
same picture to my mind, but I soon learned the difference 
between them. At first, the rifled and smooth bored 
muskets bothered me not a little, but I discovered that 
the rifled had a succession of thread-like grooves like a 
screw turning in the barrel, which forced the bullet round 
and round and gave it more power. The Minie rifle is 
named from the Minie bullet, which was invented by 
Captain Minie, a Frenchman. The ball is hollow over 
a third of its length, and has a small piece of iron in the 
hollow ; is long and has jagged edges ; it is greased before 
it is used, that it may pass smoothly through the barrel. 
Muskets and other guns are made with rifled bores and 
the Minie ball is used in them. Sharpe's rifle is loaded 
by sliding part of the barrel off. The ball and cartridge 
are put in the opening thus exposed and the slide is re- 
turned to its place again : this is called breech loading. 



CHAPTER XL 



BEFORE BULL RUN. 



FOR some days a forward movement had been ex- 
pected, and the men were restless in their eagerness to 
meet the enemy. 

At length one warm morning orders were issued, and 
notices appeared upon the stanchions of certain tents, that 
the officers were to hold the men in readiness to march at 
a moment's warning. Intense excitement prevailed ; all 
hoped our destination was Manassas. There was no 
thought of defeat. We were marching to victory. 

The orders came on the 17th of July, a telegram from 
General McDowell's headquarters commanding that all 
divisions and brigades move forward at two o'clock. 

The men shouted wildly when the announcement was 
made, and proceeded, hastily with the work of prepara- 
tion. Three days' rations were given out, shoes distrib- 
uted, arms cleaned, tents taken down, wagons loaded and 
everything put in readiness for instant departure. 

John went quietly to work to get himself in trim. I saw 
he was anxious and knew it was on my account, for I had 

watched him talking with Lieutenant C . 1 assisted 

him without a word, at the same time putting up my own 
things. I was fearful that, in prospect of a battle, he 
might order me to stay behind ; and in that case I really 
think I should have mutinied, and, for the first time in my 
life, refused to obey him. 

AVhile I was thus thinking, an old and intimate friend 



BEFORE BULL RUN. 87 

of John made his appearance^ and stopped to speak to 
him. I had known him ever since I could remember any- 
one. He told John he was to accompany our division as 
a reporter for one of the newspapers, and, after they had 
conversed a while, said : 

" What are you going to do with Phil ? '' 

" I do not know,'* was the reply ; ** I do not feel justi- 
fied in letting him go into danger when he can do no ser- 
vice." 

*' Let him accompany me, he can have Harris's horse ; 
he, poor fellow, cannot get out of his bed, having sprained 
his arm and ankle in a fall he got yesterday. I do not ex- 
pect to be in the fight, but if Phil will obey orders make 
me his captain." 

I did not relish this arrangement, but was afraid to 
object ; so when John told me that he put me in Mr. 

D 's charge, I acquiesced and gave the promise to 

keep close to Mr. D 's side required of me. 

Everything was in readiness at the time appointed, and 
the division moved forward. 

Before his regiment fell into line, John took me into 
his arms, embraced and kissed me, charging me to take 
care of myself for his sake ; for if anything should happen to 
me, he would never forgive himself for allowing me to come. 

Then he told me that if he should be killed, Mr. D 

would hand me a letter he had given him for me ; in this 
letter he had offered me his best advice and counsel with 
regard to m-y future. He had long since insured his life 
for my benefit, and, in case of his death in battle, there 
would be no trouble about the payment, he having secured 
that by increase of premium. 

His last words as he shouldered his musket were : 

" Be a good man, Phil, and stick to the flag while a 
shred of it floats." 



88 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

And I cried like a girl as for answer, I waved my 
little flag which was to go with me. 

" Take courage, Captain Phil,'* said Caton, as he tight- 
ened his straps over his shoulders ; ^^ I am sorry for you, 
Phil. If those fire-eaters prove more troublesome than we 
think, there is a chance for you yet." 

John's last words made me resolve to obey his injunc- 
tions strictly. 

So soon as the word was given to move I went with 

Mr. D to a hill at a little distance which overlooked 

the whole scene. 

** Now, Phil," he said, " you see the advantage of not 
being under orders, military orders I mean ; we can view 
the whole march at our pleasure and yet be in at the 

fight." 

It was the grandest sight I ever saw. The scenery was 
magnificent — hills and valleys with dense forests and 
smooth plains lay near ; while away the blue mountains 
raised their peaks to the sky, and as far as the eye could 
reach a great, broad, black belt, shimmering with bayo- 
nets flashing in the sun, wound, like a huge, dark river, 
through valleys and over hills, its billows crested with 
floating banners, and its huge waves timing their move- 
ments to the exhilarating strains of martial music. 

I watched them on their winding way, almost wild 
with excitement. 

Penetrating the music, or heard in the pauses, came 
the voices of the men, singing *' America," ** Dixie," " The 
Star Spangled Banner," *^ Hail Columbia," etc. It 
reminded me of the line : ^' treading to death as to a 
festival." 

Mr. D could not stay in one place. He made a 

few notes, and calling me to follow, ran down a hill to a 
farm house where were our horses. Mounting them, we 



BEFORE BULL RUN, 89 

took to the fields, getting as close to the column as pos- 
sible. For a time we kept alongside the First Division, which 
constituted the right wing and was under the command 
of General Tyler. As we passed " our company," I saw 
John, grave and silent, marching with his head erect, 
and his wreath over his shoulders. The men recognized 
me as I rode to the front, and one called out : ** Tell 
them we are coming, Captain Phil ; " another, ^^ The 
avengers of Sumter are on their track." All along, as the 
spectators passed, the cries were : *' We carry the mail 
from Washington to Richmond.'" 

^* Ask the price of hemp in the Southern capital ! " 

" Tell Jeff, we bear him General Scott's compliments," 
etc. 

The 69th New York, Irish regiment, were in the third 
brigade, and could scarce contain themselves. They 
whooped and hallooed and sang and laughed. 

When they had to halt, as they frequently did, that the 
obstructions put by the rebels in the road might be re- 
moved, they wrestled and played with each other, and 
gave the most unearthly yells, which almost startled me 
out of my saddle. 

The way was narrow and rough, and the march slow. 
A band of skirmishers and pioneers were sent ahead 
with axes to clear away the barricades, trees in large 
numbers having been cut from the hillsides to form these 
hindrances. 

There was not much progress made this first day. At 
night the men lay down in the wet, swampy fields and 
meadows, the heavy fog drenching them to the skin. 
They arose at daybreak with light hearts, wringing the 
water from their clothes and blankets, while rejoicing in 
the prospect of encountering the foe. 

The division was on the move by half-past five, but 



90 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

Mr. D and I, who had spent the night in a barn be- 
longing to a farmhouse near by, waited at the farmer's for 
breakfast, preferring hot cakes and coffee to an early 
start, satisfied to come up with them later in the day. 

The road was more obstructed than that already passed 
over ; the sun hot, the dust stifling, the advance slow and 
trying to the patience of the men. Every little while, 
when a halt was called to clear away, the soldiers would 
leave the ranks in search of water, for they were tortured 
with thirst, and there was nothing to quench it. 

I rode into the farmyard of every house where there 
was a prospect of obtaining water, with my saddle hung 
with canteens ; but most of the dwellings were deserted, 
the well chains and buckets gone, and we had no means 
of supplying others. 

The rebels ran as we approached, and the few women 
and children we saw appeared frightened almost to death. 
They crouched as we came near, as though trying to 
elude our blows. We took several prisoners. One, a 
rebel officer, was caught by a private in the 69th, who had 
strayed off in a vain search for water. The officer looked 
crestfallen, and the soldier appeared as though, if it were 
not for the consequences to himself, he would have liked 
to have taken vengeance on him for his disappointment. 

The advance discovered some earthworks, and orders 
were given to form for battle ; but, seeing the movement, 
the rebels retreated, leaving canteens, blankets, etc., be- 
hind them, which were soon in the possession of our men. 

I had several opportunities this day of seeing John, for 
Mr. D — — , intent on gaining all the information in his 
power, dashed here, there and everywhere, and, unless 
forbidden, I always followed. 

I was sitting under a tree which stood a little distance 
from the road in a field with Mr. D— ^ — , when Ayres's 



BEFORE BULL RUN, 91 

battery went thundering by to the front, the column 
having halted. 

"There is a battle on hand, Captain Phil," said he ; 
and gathering up his notes, we started forward. We were 
informed that the advance had reported a formidable 
battery within half a mile of Germantown, in the vicinity 
of which we were. Preparations were made for an attack, 
but the rebels disappeared as we approached. 

As we entered the little village it was in flames ; some 
lawless members of one of the regiments had set fire to 
and pkmdered some vacant houses. This caused an order 
from General McDowell, that any soldier discovered set- 
ting fire to a house should be shot on the spot, and those 
found stealing be sent back, under guard, to Alexandria. 

Mr. D went into the yard of a pretty little dwell- 
ing, which had been burned down, in search of water. I 
followed, and looked about while he took a hasty sketch 
of the premises. Hearing a groan from a shed which 
stood near, I peeped into it, and saw two men lying there 
ill of the measles. One of them saw me and begged for 

water. I called Mr. D , and he examined them. 

They were rebel soldiers, wrapped in blankets, and were 
unshaven and dirty in appearance. We replied to their 
questions, gave them water, assuring them they were safe 
under the protection of the Stars and Stripes, which waved 
over them only a few rods further on. 

The halt was ordered for the night in a broad valley 
surrounded by vv^oods and having plenty of water. It 
was more sheltered than the camp of the night previous. 
I remained with John, sleeping on the ground with my 
head and shoulders well wrapped in a blanket. I never 
rested better, although I could almost wring the water 
from my clothes in the morning. 

There was an alarm during the night, and all sprang to 



92 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

arms. Near us the whisper went " Be silent and steady, 
boys." The trumpet rang out, the drums sounded, and 
the word of command came clear and firm from the dif- 
ferent leaders over the field, although they could not see 
the faces of their men. 

Standing still, waiting, but on the alert, it was discov- 
ered that the alarm was caused by some confusion among 
the cattle, consequent on several getting loose. There 
was a rattle of steel as the thousands sank down again. 
While listening to the baying of the dogs, I fell asleep. 

The reveille started us betimes next morning. " We 
shall have a taste of the work to-day, boys," said an ofhcer, 
passing a group shaking themselves into trim. 

*^ The sooner the better," was the reply. 

In a short time all were en rotite for Center ville, a 
breakfast of coffee and bread having been hastily swal- 
lowed. 

The black stream of infantry slowly moved again ; the 
cavalry took their places in the line ; the white covers of 
the wagons gleamed in the sun ; the ambulances with 
their sleepy conductors crept by ; while the beeves, fol- 
io v/ing in the rear, were with difficulty kept together by 
the drivers, who shouted and yelled themselves hoarse in 
their efforts to confine them to the road — so, through thick 
woods the division took its course. 

As we rode along the column the mists arose and dis- 
persed before the sun, and Mr. D drew my attention 

to the several regiments. 

The 79th were stern and calm. Pointing to them, he 
said : " They have made up their minds to the issue, be 
it what it may." 

The green banner of the Irish regiment fluttered in the 
breeze as they went cheerily onward, their band playing 
the merriest tunes. Some of them were without coats or 



BEFORE BULL RUN. 93 

blankets, having thrown them away the day before, when 
they dashed through Fairfax. 

The Ohio boys trod bravely, young as many of them 
were, particularly the Zouaves. They clutched their arms 
like men eager for the fray, and bore themselves proudly 
with a firm step. " No danger but we will have a good 
account from them," was Mr. D 's comment. 

As we passed the New York 2nd, at some little dis- 
tance, for we were not allowed to ride close, the band struck 
up. I observed a very small boy among the drummers, and 
dashed nearer to get a better view of him. I must con- 
fess I was envious, he appeared so joyous, and beat his 
drum w4th so much spirit among those gallant men. 

*^ They speak well for the West ; " Mr. D pointed to 

the Second Wisconsin and some Iowa troops, " and when 
they have the opportunity will speak for themselves." 

We reached Centerville about noon and encamped in a 
valley on one side of the highway, the Fifth Division be- 
ing on the opposite side, separated from us by the road. 
The village had been abandoned by the rebel men, the 
women and children only remaining. The deserted huts 
of the rebel troops dotted the hill sides. I went over the 

grounds with Mr. -D . There had been no resistance 

to our force entering Centerville and now the Stars and 
Stripes floated there. 

General Tyler and staff took up their quarters with a 
secession family, living in a comfortable old house in th 
neighborhood, not as welcome guests though. I heard ar. 
officer laughing at the objections made by the old lady, 
all of which the general politely but firmly put aside, con- 
cluding with, *' 1 intend to pay for the quarters, madam, 
and must have thern." 

As we looked about us Mr. D pointed to some 

Massachusetts and Connecticut troops, ordered in the 



94 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

direction of Bull Run for a reconnoissance, and remarked: 
^^ The material that was in the Revolution is there, Phil, 
and will conquer." 

The men were taking their ease, lying on the ground, 
some sleeping, others munching crackers, under the shade 
of their blankets, which they had stretched upon the 

stocks of their muskets. All was quiet. Mr. D had 

just turned to seek a shelter for us from the heat, when 
the sound of cannon reached our ears. We paused to 
listen. Shot followed shot in the direction of the wood. 

The men sprang to their feet, and I followed Mr. D , 

who with others ran to the top of a hill near to look 
around. I asked no questions, but listened eagerly to 
what was said, and heard that three regiments under 
Colonel Richardson had gone in the direction of 
Bull Run. 

Mr. D had a glass and used it, but the woods be- 
tween us and the firing prevented his ascertaining any- 
thing ; he could only see the smoke. Occasionally the 
firing would stop, but we could get no information. Two 
or three hours thus passed. I was burning to go down 
and run further on, but dared not. Presently an officer who 
stood with his glass to his eye, said: ^' There is an orderly 
coming." All ran down in the direction of the road lead- 
ing to Manassas, and heard from the man that he was 
sent for reinforcements. 

The Massachusetts men having come upon a rebel 
battery, it opened fire upon them ; advancing with the 
Michigan and New York regiments, they found them- 
selves raked right and left and had retired to the woods 
until the reinforcements arrived. 

Sherman's brigade was ordered up, and the Sixty-ninth, 
followed by the Highlanders and the Thirteenth Wiscon- 
sin, went "rushing on. A wild war shriek ran along the 



BEFORE BULL RUN, 95 

lines as they passed, in answer to the cheers of their com- 
rades. 

Mr. D , with a crowd of others, now took to the 

road, I with them, and coming to a little eminence, nearer 
the scene of action, mounted it. As we stood there a 
cannon ball sped past within a few yards of us, ploughing 
the ground and scattering the earth for some distance. 
."Mr. D turned at the confusion this caused, and or- 
dered me back. I had to obey. 

I mounted the first hill again, and stayed there for 
hours, looking in the direction of the battle. Many 
men and officers from the regiments below came up to 
see what could be seen, but, not liking to question them, 
I gained little information. I saw Ayres's battery return, 
and heard them say the ammunition had given out. 
After a time a large party of horsemen passed down 
the road in the direction of the battle ; they rode fast, 
but I recognized one of them as Governor Sprague, 
and heard an officer near say: '^ There goes General 
McDowell and his staff." 

Soon we saw parties who had gone in the direction 
of Bull Run, returning, and heard that General Mc- 
Dowell had ordered a retreat. 

Very tired and very hungry, I started in search of 
John, and after a walk of a mile and a quarter reached 
the place where his regiment had bivouacked ; searched 
for and found him. I answered the questions put to 
me as well as I could (for not knowing when they 
might be called upon, the men had been ordered to 
keep their places) and then sought rest in the shade of ^ 
tree. 

A little while after some regiments came back, and the 
wounded were brought in. To me it was a fearful sight 
to see those mangled bodies ; it was the first time I had 



96 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

seen the corpse of one who had come to a violent death. 
There was a poor fellow among the wounded who had 
his ear shot off close to his head ; he appeared to suffer 
dreadfully. 

I turned sick and dizzy at the sight, and for a moment 
or two did not know where I was ; afraid of being thought 
chicken-hearted I did not go near the wounded again. 

The great cry was for water. It seemed as though the 
men could not get enough ; they panted for it under that 
July sun. The wells at Centerville were said to be ex- 
hausted, and they paid any price for a drink. 

The camp-fires were lighted, and watching them I fell 
asleep. John went among the men to hear them talk of 
the fight, and to learn what prospect there was of a re- 
newal to-morrow. As it grew cooler, the whole force, 
except the sentinels, appeared to sleep. 

So closed with the Army of the Potomac the i8th ol 
July, the day of the skirmish before Bull Run, 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE BATTLE OF STONE BRIDGE OR BULL RUN. 

MR. D.- was busy the next day, writing his report 
for the paper, so I staid with John, and did not 
see him until after dinner. Then he made his appearance 
in our midst, and joined John and me who were just 
starting for a walk. 

All hoped the attack would be renewed in the morning, 
but the rumor was that General McDowell had ordered the 
engineers out for a reconnoissance, and that there might 
not be any thing done for several days. At this there 
was much grumbling. The men were anxious to close 
again with the foe, and were restive under the thought of 
having been driven back. Besides, the weather was hot, 
the time long, and they did not know what to do with 
themselves. 

We walked beyond Centerville to the field where part 
of our division were bivouacked. I gazed about while 
John and Mr. D talked to the men. 

In a few minutes John turned and said: ^' Look there, 
Phil." 

I looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a little 
boy, who could not have been more than eight or nine 
years of age, lying in a fence corner, almost covered with 
tail, coarse grass, his arms embracing and his head rest- 
ing on a drum, fast asleep. 

I walked up to him and taking one of the drumsticks 
in my hand struck the fence with it in an idle way as I 
gazed on him. 
7 



98 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

"Faith, and it's tired he is," said a good-natured Irish- 
man lying near. 

" Where does he belong ? " I inquired. 

" Sure and it's his father I am, and he's one of us," 

" Will he go to battle with you ? " 

" Faith, and he will, we could not do without Mickey and 
the music ; it's a good boy he is. He has just been baptized, 
and the sign of the blessed cross put on him by the holy 
father there. May the blessed Virgin have him in her 
keeping." 

He pointed to a spot where the Irish regiments had 
collected, and where a priest at a distance from the others 
was hearing confessions and administering the sacra- 
ment, as a preparation for the expected battle. 

Looking at the boy I turned to John, and said: " He 
can go." 

" It is his duty," he replied. Then addressing Mr. 

D : " Phil has a mania to be a drummer boy and I have 

no peace because I will not gratify his noisy propensity." 

The Zouaves looked gay, bright and hot ; they flung 
themselves impatiently about, and grumbled that they had 
no hand in yesterday's skirmish with the "gray devils." 

" How stubbornly patient the Germans are," said John 
as we moved among them, " they will fight just as they wait. 
It will be hard to turn them back." And so it was. 

Saturday passed in much the same way. The men 
were irritable, hot, tired. I was awakened about mid- 
night and found orders had been given for a march to 
battle next day. 

When John lay down after that he put his arm close 
about me, and I fully realized he was going into the fight. 
I slept only in snatches, and it seemed to me we had but 
straightened for rest, when the call came to " up and 
march." 



BATTLE OF STONE BRIDGE OR BULL RUN, 99 

A few indistinct words, a warm embrace, and I was 
left. The men wheeled past me to join their comrades, 
who had already fallen in, and were on the march, the 
bright moonbeams playing among their ranks^ and spark- 
ling on their bayonets. 

I cut across the fields and joined Mr. D at the 

farm house where he lodged. He was up and ready, and 
in the twilight of the Sabbath morning, with a heavy 
heart, I accompanied him to the rear of the central at- 
tacking column, which was the First Division, carrying my 
flag in my hand. 

The reserve, who remained behind, called after those 
who went ahead, and jest and laughter was heard on all 
sides. " Be sure you bring me a lock of Jeff's hair,Tom." 
^* Ay, ay, you shall have the whole head." "I want the 
flagon Beauregard's tent for a dress for my girl, Andy." 
'' Remember Hal when you strike," said one, grasping 
the hand of another, and alluding to a comrade killed a 
few days before. 

So they went to battle. 

The moonlight changed into a sort of twilight and day 
broke. Mr. D passed to the front, ordering me to re- 
main in the rear. There were many citizens with us, and 
the talk was of a battle at Manassas. Crossing a bridge 
over a little stream, the forces kept on for a considerable 
distance. When about three miles from our starting 
point, there was a sudden movement of the troops in 
front, and the cry came that the enemy was to be seen. 
The ranks separated, and moved right and left to form 
for battle, while the great cannon went to the van. 

I forgot everything and followed some gentlemen 
advancing to the scene of action. The boom of our can- 
non startled us ; all sorts of conjectures were made by the 
group with whom I had placed myself, and men went 



lOO CAPTAIN PHIL. 

forward and came back with divers reports. The troops 
moved slowly on and we kept pace with them. Presently 
one who had advanced to the front ran back, shouting : 
" They are in sight ; they wave their flags at us." His 
words were cut short by a tremendous boom of cannon, 
followed by the loud halloo of our forces, as they pre- 
pared to return it. 

The leaves and twigs of the trees flew about our heads ; 
I ran back. The balls appeared to be chasing me all the 
while. Just as I reached shelter, I saw John and some 
others coming in the same direction — bearing something 
on their bayonets, which they placed carefully under a 
tree, and then went back. The lookers-on pressed to the 
spot. *^ Poor little fellow ! " I heard one say. 

I raised on my tip toes and stretched forward, to see 
the body of the little drummer boy of the 2nd New York, 
whom I had envied only a few days before, lying mangled 
and dead, severed by a cannon ball. I do not know what 
happened for some time after that, but when I came to 
myself I was alone under a tree, at a distance from the 
spot where the boy lay. Our forces had moved round, 
and most of the firing came from a different direction. 
The air was heavy with smoke, and the whiz of bullets 
was on all sides. 

Filled with fear for John, whom I knew to be in the 
thickest of the fight, I got up and ran forward, grasping 
my flag, which all the while had been clasped tightly in 
my hand. There was a clear space in front, and on each 
side of it trees covered the ground. Behind the trees, 
sheltering themselves as best they could, were many look- 
ers-on. I inquired of one what regiments were engaged. 

^^ All, all ! " was his impatient reply — without looking at 
me. 

There wag great excitement among them ; some one 



BATTLE OF STOXE BRIDGE OR BULL RUN, loi 

was continually uttering exclamations and telling what he 
saw. I was moving away, when one caught me and 
pulled me to the ground, telling me to stay where I was. 
I heard them speak of the "Run," and the "Bridge," 
and the charges made, and name the officers engaged, but 
I could see nothing, and was almost stifled with smoke. 
As I lay there, the wounded were brought to the rear and 
given in charge of the surgeons, who had sought a 
sheltered spot, hung blankets around it. and displayed the 
yellow flag, or tied their scarfs to the trees. 

At first I could not look at these men and moved away ; 
by degrees, however, this feeling wore off, and I went 
near and gave several of them water, and performed little 
offices for the surgeons. I was in a strange state. I did 
not know how the hours passed, but seemed carried along 
by something within me which worked vathout n:iy will. 

The firing became hotter. Too restless to stay long in 

one place, having lost sight of Mr. D altogether, I 

started again to see what was going on. 

At first, I had feared the balls, every one of which 
seemed laden with direct death to me. I shuddered at their 
peculiar whiz, and turned cold as they crashed among 
the trees, or tore up the earth. Now, as I heard them, I 
thought they might hurt me, but as they did not, I grew 
bolder, and approached the scene of strife. I could see 
the men and recognize some of the officers, but could 
make nothing of the order of battle. While I stood amid 
the din, I was seized with a fierce desire for arms, and 
looked about for something with which I might rush in 
and strike one blow. With all there was a hot feeling in 
my blood ; a fearlessness in my heart, and a dull heavi- 
ness upon me, as I gazed through the smoke looking in 
vain for John. 

I saw a horseman dash across an open space where bul- 



lo^ Captain PHIL. 

lets fell like rain , I held my breath, and watched him 
with anxious fear ; but in a few moments he spurred his 
horse back through the storm unhurt, with one of his legs 
thrown over the pummel of his saddle. I heard one say 
he had gone for ammunition. 

Colonel Cameron I knew by his broad-brimmed hat, 
with its black feather ; and our own colonel I distin- 
guished by his horse, a full-blooded black. 

I afterwards tried to tell John where I w^as, and what I 
had seen, for it seemed to me I had a view of all our 
division two or three times, but I could not make a con- 
nected story. Once or twice our men fell back, and I was 
carried with them. The dead and dying were all around 
me. 

" For God's sake give me water ! ** 

The words came from a soldier propped against a tree, 
his right arm hanging loose from his shoulder — his face 
already white in death. My canteen was empty ; I went 
back a little distance ; then ran in a diagonal line to the 
running stream before us, where the fight was thickest 
and hottest. As I stooped to dip the water up a Zouave 
bounded beside me, and dashing his face in the stream^ 
lapped it like a dog ; while one of the Sixty-ninth, strip- 
ped of every thing but his trowsers, threw himself on his 
knees and drank from his hands. Another, near, filled 
his boot and carried it off. We were there but a few 
minutes, yet the bullets seemed flying in our faces as they 
dashed the water over us, ploughed the earth, or sunk in 
the steep bank. I can never forget the look of that man, 
as I put the canteen to his lips ; he could not speak his 
thanks. 

Blood-stained and ghastly bodies covered the earth ; 
still the boom of cannon was heard ; the leaden hail rat- 
tled among the trees ; the jagged bullets fell around. 



BATTLE OF STONE BRIDGE OR BULL RUN, 103 

Two or three times there was a yell, so shrill that it 
rang out above the din; one near me said, ^' It is the 
Fire Zouaves." 

We had retreated to get away from the bullets ; but now I 
went nearer ; I knew a fierce conflict raged, but could 
only see what went on about me ; soon I found myself in 
an entirely different part of the field ; I could not tell 
whether I was surrounded by friends or foes. Among 
the wounded near was a young lad, some seventeen years 
0-" age ; his legs were torn away, and he was gasping and 
trying to undo his shirt ; I neared him, and loosed the 
fastenings. "Where are you from?" "Georgia," he 
faintly murmured. "A rebel?" He nodded his head. 
" Are these rebel troops near us ? " He again nodded 
assent. 

I was amid the foe ; I sat down aghast. In a moment 
my w^hole attention was absorbed by the lad beside me. He 
suffered much ; his head sunk on one side, and I thought 
him dead, when he slowly opened his eyes. " Mother — 
mother — Jane — Ben," he muttered, "home ;" his under- 
jaw fell ; his head settled on his breast. 

I seemed as if petrified. I could not look at or touch 
him, but arose to my feet and stood staring around me. 
A moment, and there was a rush in that direction, I was 
carried with it ; on we went, rank met rank ; there w^as 
the sound of musket and the clash of steel. I fell to the 
ground ; was trodden upon ; men miade a stepping stone 
of my body as they dashed over me ; I got to my feet. 
The ranks came charging back. A soldier seized me by 
the arm, as I impeded his way, and pushed me forward, 
saying, *^ You are my prisoner." He leaned against a tree 
for breath before another onset. I unrolled my flag 
which was wound about the stick. 

" The Stars and Stripes," he exclaimed. 



104 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

" I belong to the th." 

'* Then go behind there," and he thrust me to the rear 
with a force that sent me reeling. 

" Water, water ! " Panting and exhausted, the men lay- 
gasping, and some, unable to endure the thirst, made des- 
perate efforts to gain the stream. The day wore on ; the 
firing began to slacken ; regiments fell back ; there was a 
lull ; — then rejoicing over a victory. 

Some threw themselves down for a moment's rest, 
others looked to the wounded and dying. I set out to 
find " our company," and see John. The earth at 
every step was red with blood and covered with muti- 
lated and dying men. 

Some little time passed — I cannot tell how long, for I 
had thrown myself down near the grove used by the sur- 
geons, where the yellow flag was flying — when a number 
of persons came running rapidly back. The Black Horse 
had charged upon the Fire Zouaves. The firing recom- 
menced, and in a few minutes the battle raged again. The 
rebel cavalry came furiously on and were met by the 
Zouaves, who, shouting ^'Remember Ellsworth," closed 
upon them with musket, bayonet and saber. 

I stood crouching in the corner of a worm fence, when 
Union and rebel soldiers came dashing through it, and 
over the road — red shirts and black horses in rapid con- 
fusion ; mingling with their tramp were the terrible yells 
of the combatants, and the heavy strokes of the saber. I 
got up and staggered back ; the yellow flag and the sur- 
geons were gone, and the dead lay in heaps where they 
had been. 

After a time the cry came : " They are retreating ! " 
and two of our regiments, driven by the enemy, went by 
to the left ; others followed and lookers-on joined ; there 
was shouting and urging and thrusting forward. I went 



BATTLE OF STONE BRIDGE OR BULL RUN, 105 

with the crowd, who threw each other down in the eager- 
ness to get away from the battle-field, trampling over 
those who fell. Part of the multitude had re-crossed the 
little stream we had passed in the morning, when a troop 
of horsemen came down upon them ; they were met by 
a detachment of our troops — crash — a dash — a roar — the 
belching of cannon, and then soldiers — teamsters — cattle 
— wagons — ambulances — mingled in deadly confusion — 
fled onward in pitiful panic. I was carried a short dis- 
tance by the rush, then left where I dropped, utterly un- 
able to move. Several officers with drawn swords tried 
to bring the men back, but the terrified horde kept on un- 
heeding, fancying the victorious rebels at their heels. 

Crawling on one side, I saw a rifle and picked it up ; the 
touch gave me strength and spirit. I determined to have 
one shot at the rebels, and so, standing up, tried to steady 
it, but my knees trembled and I sunk again. With a 
renewed effort I dragged myself nearer the scene of action ; 
I fired once — twice — but I know not if the balls told ; I 
only hoped they did. Then, with a tight clutch on my 
flag, I fell back, fierce joy raging in my heart. Several 
horsemen passed near but did not see me. I believed 
John was dead ; there was no one now to look or care 
for me ; with a sort of desperate feeling I longed to flout 
my flag in the face of the foe, and believe I could have 
done it had they come near. I smoothed it out ; the scene 
swam before my eyes ; I was dying, I knew it, — the din 
grew less, — the outline of the scene fainter — I clasped the 
flag tighter. They should find me with my country's 
colors on my heart. 

A rough hand shook me back to life. 

It was Mr. D . I tried to get up but could not. I 

was not hurt, but I could not stand. It was almost evening, 
and I had eaten nothing since the night before. Mr. D 



I o6 CAPTA IN PHIL. 

took a flask from his pocket, held it to my lips and bade 
me drink. '^ More, more," he said sharply, as I paused 
for breath. The fiery draught revived me. I asked for 
John. He hoped he was safe, believed he was, but if I 
wanted to see him I must exert all my strength to get 
ahead. I already felt better ; we rushed on with the rest, 
only turning aside to get our horses, which we had left at 
the farm house, but they had been seized by other fugi- 
tives. We got some bread ; then, with hundreds of others, 
keeping to the fields, made for Washington. 

On — on — on— the high road was jammed with a mov- 
ing throng and strewed with abandoned knapsacks and 
arms. Wounded and almost exhausted men struggled 
with the occupants of vehicles for possession, and were 
knocked down, to be trodden on and left to die in the 
dust. The roadside and fields were thickly dotted with 
those who had given out, and sunk to sleep or death. 

We met members of the regiment and fell in with sev- 
eral of *^ our company ; " they told me John was alive 
and on the way. After a while I gave out also, as did 
others. AVe must rest and sleep. Mr. D stood per- 
plexed, for his duty called him to the city. I begged him 
to go ; the men promised to keep me with them, so he 
reluctantly departed. 

Crossing to the far side of a corn-field, we lay down, 
reduced to such a state of weariness we scarcely cared 
what became of us. After a couple of hours' sleep we again 
joined the train of fugitives. A drenching rain fell, which 
penetrated to our skins. Hungry, sleepy, dirty, sore- 
footed and sore-hearted, worn and miserable, we reached 
Long Bridge, and passing crowds as wretched as our- 
selves, entered the city, which was thronged with people, 
who eagerly stopped and questioned each fresh group 
that arrived. Soldiers stood in clusters on the pavements 



BATTLE OF STONE BRIDGE OR BULL RUN, 107 

or leaned against the houses, or lay on the steps of public 
buildings and private dwellings. The rain poured upon 
them, while ladies, negroes, Dutch and Irish men and 
women thrust provisions in their hands or put wine to their 
lips. We came to two ladies, standing on the curbstone 
before their dwelling, their white faces haggard with 
anxiety. They held cups to the lips of the weary men 
tottering by. I eagerly swallowed a draught of the liquor. 
*^ Poor boy ! he shakes like a leaf," said one of them. 
" Go lie yonder," — she pointed to a carpenter's shop 
near. I obeyed, and sinking on the shavings, disgrace, 
disaster and defeat were forgotten in sleep. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

GOING HOME. 

IT was some hours ere I awoke ; my first thought was 
of John, and I went in search of him. 

O, that day ! that dull, wretched, miserable day ! The 
rain sullenly falling, the depressed soldiers, the terrified 
and helpless citizens starting at each unusual sound — 
the half concealed joy of the secesh — I cannot bear to 
remember, but can never forget ! The streets were still 
thronged; groups of despairing men stood upon the side- 
walks and talked, while women, regardless of the rain, 
mutely listened ; worn out soldiers, shelterless, wandered 
about having no place to go, telling to eager listeners the 
tale of our disaster. Going about among them speaking 
words of cheer, rendering assistance, and ministering to 
their comfort, were many prominent men, among whom I 
recognized Senator Wilson and others I had seen in 
Washington. 

The Zouaves were reported to have been cut to pieces. 
I saw several surrounded by eager listening crowds. 

I could hear nothing of John. — At length I met a man 
who told me he was wounded and had come in in an am- 
bulance. After some time I found hmi. 

He saw me coming and opened his arms to me. His 
first words were thanks for my escape. 

'^ You are hurt — wounded," I cried, seeing him wince. 

** It is nothing, a blow from a spent ball — but you ? " 

^* Bruised from being trodden on ; that is all,** 



GOING HOME. 1 09 

^^ Yesterday, my boy, yesterday, to think of it ! I would 
willingly have been left there; " he pointed in the direction 
of Bull Run, ^4f my poor life could have helped to pre- 
vent this disgrace." 

" Why, Captain Phil ! " Caton slapped me on the back. 
^^ I never expected to see you again after what I heard." 

^^What?" said John. 

^^ He was in the thickest of the fight." 

" I did not mean to break my word, John." I told him 
candidly how I felt and what I had done. 

^^ And you had no arms ? " 

" Yes, he had," interrupted Caton, ^^ and he blazed 
away at them, too. Watson, who was wounded in the 
wrist and had his rifle struck from his hand, lay in some 
bushes, where he had crawled to get out of the way of the 
Black Horse. He saw Captain Phil crack away at them; 
he called to him but could not make him hear. After- 
wards some of the boys picked up Watson, and seeing Mr. 
D he put him on Captain Phil's track." 

I showed John the rifle I had kept as a trophy, and 
which I hereafter intended to use. It was a handsome 
one and had a curious figure cut on the stock. 

John could not walk. The ball had struck him above 
the ankle, early in the action, throwing him down and 
sending his rifle to some distance. As he could not stand 
and was unarmed he was carried to an ambulance, and 
knew nothing of the panic, until he saw the crowd of 
soldiers and vehicles cumbering the road. The driver 
of his vehicle started with the rest, deaf to all his remon- 
strances and entreaties to stop or turn aside for a moment, 
so he was among the first to reach the city. 

I went up to Mrs. Leavit's ; the little woman wrung my 
hand and kissed me, while the tears ran down her cheeks. 
She immediately got a carriage, and we went for John. 



1 1 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

She took him to her house, and attended to him herself ; 
she saw that he wanted tor nothing. His leg was painful, 
but he uttered no complaint ; it made my heart heavy to 
see him, he was so depressed. 

Anxious about his comrades, he sent me out to gather 
all the information I could get. 

One of our men had come in driving a prisoner before 
him all the way, and delivering him up to the Provost 
Marshal. Another had been seen to kill two of the foe, 
and take a third a prisoner, the latter, however, he had 
stripped of his arms and given the chance of a run for his 
life, but he saw him shot by another party. A third dis- 
tinguished himself by his daring in storming the batteries, 
getting ahead of his company, and returning very reluc- 
tantly when called off. Numberless were the incidents 
of individual bravery which went from mouth to mouth. 
Several spoke of John's calm intrepidity. 

The soldiers were still in the streets shelterless, many 
of them unable to find their officers, or the rest of the 
command. Our m.tn were mostly together ; they had 
lost but few of their number. All spoke with rage and 
shame of the panic. 

Caton triumphantly told of one of his exploits. '' I was 
about a hundred yards off, when they came down on the 
hospital and killed McCook. I determined to fire one 
shot to avenge Charlie anyhow ; so selected my man and 
dropped behind a shelter conveniently near, from which 
I aimed at him, and I saw him fall from his horse ; played 
their own game on them, you see, and took him Indian 
fashion." 

One of the drummer boys of our regiment, only thir- 
teen years of age, was killed by a cannon ball. 

As I sat talking to John things would come to me that 
I had seen in the field, which at the time had made no 



GOING HOME. 1 1 1 

impression. I remembered faces ; expressions of the 
wounded, — that of one man was very vivid. He asked 
me to unbuckle his belt, and I recalled the fear I had that 
I would not be able to do it, and relieve him, but I did 
succeed. 

I also recollected the vivandieres, going about among 
the wounded. I saw one of them, v/hile the bullets rat- 
tled over her head, raise a man in her arms, and give him 
water. 

Vividly before me was the appearance of several of the 
wounded who loaded their rifles and fired. One man, 
disabled in the leg, had tied his pocket handkerchief tightly 
above the place, arid was on his other knee sighting his 
rifle to fire, when I observed him. 

Our regiment was now to return home to be paid off 
and disbanded, our time having expired. John, although 
not able to walk, determined to accompany it. His 
friends would care for him on the way. 

Most sad were those days spent in Washington. Fears 
for the Capitol were, however, soon allayed. The enemy 
had not followed up the advantage ; things began to come 
to order. Soldiers disappeared from the streets, turning 
again into camp, and, the first shock over, were no whit 
despairing, but already began to talk of another attack, 
when victory should wipe from their standards the sharne 
of defeat. 

The killed and wounded were found to be less in 
number than was at first reported. The dead buried and 
the wounded cared for, new measures were taken. 
General McClellan was summoned to the command ; 
hope revived and all took heart again. 

We started for home, and after many delays on the 
way, reached there. We heard we were to have a recep- 
tion and we did have one. When we came in sight of the 



1 1 2 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

city, I unrolled my flag (which John says I must keep as 
a trophy for my children), smoothed, and made it ready. 
John's wreath was at hand, withered and dry, but precious 
to him. 

It was a bright hot morning, and such a crowd ! and 
such a welcome ! It would have made patriots and 
soldiers of the most lukewarm. Men, women and chil- 
dren thronged the depot, jammed the streets, house tops 
and balconies. The military closed to escort us to the 
breakfast provided for us, fathers, mothers, sisters, 
brothers and sweethearts and wives plunged through to 
shake hands with the returned braves. 

All were dressed in holiday costume, flags were in the 
air, banners across the streets, shouts, laughter, and tears 
greeted the bronzed, soiled, and weather-beaten men, 
some of whom their nearest relatives could not rec- 
ognize. 

Each man felt himself a hero, and trod like one. I 
strutted along, shouldering my rifle, my flag held to its 
utmost height^, a target for the bouquets which covered 
us. I felt like shouting : ^' It has been to Bull Run." The 
women seemed almost crazy in their anxiety to do honor 
to the soldiers ; they cheered and waved, and showered 
flowers and blessings all along the line, at some points 
actually loading us with these favors. 

At length we reached the park, where the breakfast 
had been provided, and were welcomed with warm words, 
in a set speech. To this the chaplain replied on behalf 
of the men. Then we were bidden to the tables, where 
every luxury money could purchase was provided in the 
greatest abundance. 

" They think we have had a famine down there in 
Egypt," said Caton, as he viewed the good things piled 
before him. ^^ I intend to do justice to this fare, PhiL" 




THE RETURN. 



4 



GOING HOME. 1 13 

And we all did justice to it, and the people looked on and 
enjoyed our appetites. 

When it was over, every man was surrounded by a 
group eager to hear his story. I told mine over and over 
again. The women particularly gathered about me and 
put to me many questions, and with the most exciting 
interest examined my flag, which had a few spots of blood 
on it. They pitied me for being so young, and having 
been in so much danger. 

*nVhy," said Caton, "Captain Phil would not have 
missed it for a thousand dollars. I wish I had been in 
his place with the flag." 

" I," said a gentleman near, " would give ten thousand 
to have been through it and standing where he is now.'* 

" Now is your time then, stranger," said Caton» " you 
can go in for three years." 

It then occurred to me how conspicuous I must have 
been with that flag on the battle field. 

*^ There Charley," and I passed the flag to Thornley, 
who was pressing towards me. " I did all I could, and 
tried to have a good account to give." 

Charley seized and looked at it, as though he thought 
it could speak and tell the story of that day, while the 
other boys crowded eagerly round. I drew myself up and 
stood proudly among them, for I had been in battle for 
my country. 

As soon as I could get off I followed John, who had 
been in the procession in a carriage, but was obliged from 
the pain of his wound to go home. "' Phil," he said as we 
talked it over, " I am going in for three years when I get 
well." 

"So am I," was my rejoinder, at which he smiled, as I 
proceeded to place my little Stars and Stripes above his 
withered wreath on the mantel shelf. " Our country first, 
8 



114 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

John. If I was only a little taller I would try to get 
a position as color-bearer in one of the regiments under 
General Benham's command ! " John raised himself on 
his elbow and smiled at me in that peculiarly affectionate 
way of his. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

WESTERN VIRGINIA. 

JOHN was rapidly improving. He went out every day. 
Meantime August passed and the first of September 
found me again in school. I never liked the confinement, 
and would have demurred about going, but John had 
such a matter of course way about such things, it left me 
no room to object. I never enjoyed it so much before as 
now, however, for at recess the boys surrounded me and 
were never tired of asking questions about our camp life 
and Bull Run. I had need to be mindful of John's 
caution : ^' Be careful, Phil, you have great temptation to 
exaggerate." The Southern sympathizers often called 
*^Bull Run" after me, but several of them got pretty 
severely thrashed, so on the whole they kept tolerably 
quiet. 

Early in October John threw away his crutch. The 
first day that he did so he came home early in the even- 
ing. I was working out my problems ; they were difficult 
and he helped me. When I had done and was about put- 
ting up my book, he said : 

" Are you through, Phil ? " 

"Yes, for to-night." 

" Put the lamp on the mantel and come here ; I want to 
talk with you." 

I did as he told me, 3nd sat down beside him. 

After a moment he laid his hand on my shoulder, and 
looked fixedly in my eyes, while he said : 



Il6 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

" I am going in for three years, Phil." 

" O, I am so glad ! " and I jumped to my feet. 

" I did not say you were going with me/' 

" But I know I am though — you would not leave me 
for so long a time with the chance of not seeing me again 

— and — and 1, all you have, and you, all I have " My 

fears overcame me. I could get no further, but broke 
down. 

He put tis arm out and drew me to him. 

*^ You cannot appreciate the anxiety and thought this 
has cost me, Phil. What becomes of your education if you 
go with me ? I may be disabled — killed. To give you a 
good education may be all I shall be able to do for you 
in life." 

^^ You know," I interrupted, *' Mr. James said that 
with you I was securing an education few boys could 
receive." 

^* True in some respects ; but it is not the kind of edu- 
cation that will enable you to become a good book- 
keeper or accountant. You are a little over fourteen 
now, consequently will be between seventeen and eighteen 
three years hence. My object is to give you a collegiate 
course, although you have no great desire, I know, to go 
through college. Do you think, if I take you along with 
me and both of us live through the three years, you will 
be willing to go to school when my time is out, and 
work faithfully to attain the object I have in view?" 

^^ Yes, I am sure I will if you continue to wish it. But 
1 hope you will let me enter the army when I am seven- 
teen. Dick Chase is just seventeen and he has joined a 
cavalry regiment." John shook his head. ^* I am run- 
ning a great risk, Phil, in permitting you to have this 
army education ; but I know your character, have thought 
it all over, and believe it will be to your advantage. 



WESTERN VIRGINIA. 1 17 

Should circumstances prove that I have made a mistake, 
then you must leave me and return to your school. I 
want you to think it over ; in a day or two I will speak to 
you again. My mind is so fixed upon your going to 
college that I have made provision for your so doing in 
case I am killed, a not unlikely thing to happen. When 
you have thought it all over and decided, I shall consider 
the compact binding, and should I fall leave it as a sacred 
legacy to you to fulfill." 

^*But, John, you never had a college education, and I 
do not care to be any wiser or better than you are.'* 

" I hope you will be both ; and it is just because I have 
not such an education and feel the want of it, that I am 
determined you shall not." 

He then told me his friends had applied for a commis- 
sion for him, but added : "' I shall go as I did before if I 
should not get it." 

Never slow to act when his mind was once made up, in 
a few days he had settled everything. 

I, of course, decided, as he knew I would, to go. The 
last days of October found us busy with our preparations. 
As I took down my little flag and shook it out, I said, 
pointing to his withered wreath which hung below it : 

'' Does that go too ?" 

"Yes," he said, quietly, but tlie color came into his 
cheek. " We will take them as trophies, they were with 
us in a dark hour." 

When we were putting our things in our knapsacks, I ob- 
served an addition to his watchguard, a bright neAv locket. 

" What is that, John ? " 

" Something to turn the bullets aside," he replied. 

The middle of October found us on a boat, going up the 
Ohio river, on our way to join the army in Western Vir- 
ginia commanded by Brigadier-General William Rose- 



Il8 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

crans, John bearing a commission as second lieutenant 
in his pocket. Going by way of the Kanawha and Charles- 
ton, Virginia, we reached, after a tedious journey, the neigh- 
borhood of the Gauley river, where it empties into the 
Kanawha, and joined General Benham's Brigade at 
Camp Huddlestone. We had heard that General Rose- 
crans had his headquarters at Hawk's Nest, on the plan- 
tation of Colonel Tompkins, a rebel officer absent in 
that service. 

Some two or three days after our arrival, three or four 
of our men were caught in a chaparral, and were at the 
mercy of the enemy's guns. Soon it was reported they 
were all either killed or wounded. An officer with a squad 
was ordered to bring them in. The enterprise was a haz- 
ardous one, as no movement could be made without the 
knowledge of the foe. The officer made the attempt, and, 
returning, pronounced it impossible without a sacrifice of 
his men. Another tried it, with like success. John then 
volunteered to perform the duty. The colonel, who was 
a personal friend of his, said to him : 

" I advise you not, Wharton ; I tell you frankly, I 
would not volunteer it for my commission. Of course, if 
it was in my regular line of duty, I should not shirk it ; 
although it is just one of those cases where a man is 
almost certain to lose life or limb and gains nothing by it. 
If you insist, it will be my duty to accept, for every effort 
must be made to relieve the men." 

John did insist, and went, returning iri a far shorter 
time than any hoped, bringing all the wounded men and 
the body of one who had fallen, his little band unhurt, 
although the foe had kept up a constant firing on them. 

About a week after we joined, orders came to cross the 
Gauley, which we did, and camped upon Loup Creek. 
There we stayed several days ; then started in pursuit of 



WESTERN VIRGINIA. II9 

Floyd, over Cotton Hill or Mountain, which is situated on 
the Kanawha, opposite the mouth of the Gauley. 

Although early in the season, the cold was severe. 
Tramp, tramp, we went through snow, sleet, mud, and 
rain, with no shelter at night, and only the cold mud or 
its frozen crust for a bed. It was a dreadful march. 

We came up to them at Union School House, and at 
Dickenson's Farm. At McCoy's Mills we had an en- 
gagement ; Colonel Craghan was killed, and the rebels 
ran in great disorder. We pursued them fourteen miles 
beyond Fayetteville, the road all the way being encum- 
bered with knapsacks, clothing, and camp utensils, which 
they had abandoned in their flight. The men bore their 
hardships bravely, and only grumbled when, after a forced 
rest of a few hours to recruit their utterly exhausted 
strength, they were ordered back. General Benham, 
though very much chagrined with the order, for he felt 
certain of his prey, nevertheless promptly obeyed, and 
with what grace he could abandoned the pursuit. 

We had marched up the hill, and now we marched 
down it again. The vim with which the men had gone 
forward deserted them going back. The weather was in- 
clement, and they were insufficiently clothed, and without 
the excitement to keep them up. I was utterly done out, 
and sunk down in a fence corner, where I believe I should 
have died had not General Benham seen me and ordered 
a horse to be given me. 

" There was a man of Accomac, 
And his name was Bully Wise, 
He jumped into Kanawha's bush. 

And scratched out both his eyes ; 
And when he saw he'd lost his eyes, 

With all his might and main, 
From Kanawha he quickly flies 
To brag and — run again. '* 



1 20 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

This poetic description of General Wise's campaign I 
cut £rom a newspaper. 

It was a rough country, inhabited by rough people. 
Most of the young men were in the rebel army, and the 
old ones, as the negroes said, ^' fought on boaf sides," ac- 
cording to what troops were occupying the neighborhood. 

The rebel women were inhospitable, savage and sour, 
and looked daggers at our soldiers, as they crouched over 
the fire and smoked. There were few negroes, and they 
were of the rougher kind, and either openly or secretly 
aided the Federalso 

While there I went to the Ohio river (for John and 
several other officers), to attend to some stores and accou- 
trements, which were among the missing. 

I was leaning over the guards of a steamer at the wharf, 
listening to some young men giving an account of out- 
rages that had been committed near their homes by guer- 
rillas, when a touch on my shoulder caused me to start 
and turn around. 

^^Good evening. Captain Phil." 

I took off my cap and bowed. The tones of the voice 
were familiar, but I could not recognize the person, who 
was a fashionably dressed lady, with a black lace veil 
over her face. Confused, and at fault, I stood silent. 

With a hearty laugh, and ^'you do not know me ? " she 
threw back her veil and bent her face close to mine. 

"Joseph!" 

Yet it was not Joseph either, but a merrier, brighter 
face, wTcathed with smiles, and surrounded with artificial 
flowers. 

" Josephine, if you please. I changed my name with my 
dress. I am so glad to see you, Captain Phil. I have often 
thought of you and the good times we had when I went 
soldiering. I knew you the mon:ient I saw you.'* 



WESTERN VIRGINIA. 12I 

I could not realize that the dashing woman beside me 
was the quiet lad with whom I had messed, and at whose 
side I had slept for so many weeks. She enjoyed my as- 
tonishment a moment ; then stepping to the door of the 
cabin, beckoned to some one within. 

A good-looking officer obeyed her summons. 

" Captain S ," she said, as he reached us, ^^ this is 

Captain Phil, of whom you have heard me speak." 

The captain held out his hand and shook mine cordially. 

" Did you not suspect that she was a woman ? " 

" Never had the slightest suspicion." 

** I suppose I shall be obliged to shoulder that part of 
her experience of life," he said, with a satisfied smile. 
*'She thought I intended to join your regiment; she 
had quarreled with me, so, to spite me and ruin herself, 
she enlisted before me. You almost cut me out, though." 

I did not know what to reply ; I did not fancy him 
much. Turning to her I said : 

" Are you married ? " 

" Yes, two weeks since. He has gone in for three 
years, and is captain. I thought I had better take him. 
We are going to Cincinnati on this boat, where he joins 
his regiment." 

" She was afraid I would give her the slip," he said, 
stroking his beard. 

" How is your brother. Captain Phil ? " 

She anxiously inquired what the men said of her after 
she left, and blushed with pleasure when I told her they 
all bore testimony to her propriety of behavior. 

" It is some consolation to know that. Captain Phil, 
and perhaps if I had had a mother, father, or home, I 
should never have been a soldier. I was desperate that 
time in Cincinnati." 

The boat had been puffing steam for some time, and I 



122 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

saw they were preparing to take the plank in, so I shook 
hands and said *^Good-by." The captain was very cor- 
dial and hoped we might meet again. 

I had something to think of now by way of passing the 
two hours before I could get away from the town. I had 
a feeling of sorrow for her, although I do not know that I 
had cause, excepting that her husband appeared careless 
and indifferent. She seemed bright and happy enough. 

On returning, I found a report in camp that several 
regiments were to be transferred to Kentucky. I hoped 
John's would be among the number. My only regret was 
the probability of another commander. General Ben- 
ham, by his kindness and consideration, had made him- 
self very popular among the troops, while his indomitable 
energy and his soldierly bearing inspired confidence. We 
knew it was not his fault Floyd escaped. 



CHAPTER XV, 

FROM LOUISVILLE TO NASHVILLE. — AFTER BUCKNER. 



M' 



'UCH to my satisfaction, ours was one of the regi- 
ments ordered to Louisville. We found the city 
crowded with troops; regiment after regiment hourly ar- 
riving and departing. We encamped on the opposite side 
of the river, back of Jeffersonville. The next day I had 
permission to go over to Louisville. I wandered about 
all day. I saw General Buell's body-guard passing 
through the streets — a grand-looking set of men, almost 
all of them six feet high. The general's quarters were 
in a handsome three-story house on Fourth street, made 
conspicuous by the Stars and Stripes floating from the 
roof, and the sentinel pacing before the door. 

Two women passed as I paused there ; they scowled at 
the sentinel. One of them said: ^^ Don't pass under that 
rag," and they turned out into the street. The other, as 
she stepped on the curbstone of the next pavement, and 
paused to scrape the mud off her shoes, muttered between 
her teeth: " I would like to wipe my feet on it." 

As I stood in a crowd looking at some troops passing, 
I saw faces dark with passion, and heard many a scoff 
and threat. A showily dressed woman pushing herself 
along, using her elbows, nearly threw me down, then 
exclaimed in a hard, loud voice : '^ Get out of the way, 
you little viper." 

" You mistake, madam," I replied, catching my balance, 
and bowing, " I am not a copperhead." 



1^4 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

^' Bully for you," exclaimed a great broad-chested man 
dressed in jeans, giving me a slap on the back which 
nearly upset me again. ^^ I see by your traps you belong 
to Uncle Sam, Keep on ; you will be a general some 
day." 

We moved back from the river and were many weeks 
on the dark and bloody ground. The w^eather was ter- 
ribly cold, wet and rainy, and so dull and uncomfortable, 
with the mud ankle deep, that we could not drill. Picket 
duty was severe, but the men preferred it to guarding 
fords or to the tedium of camp life. 

I could not help giving vent to my joy by turning a 
somersault and hurrahing at the top of my lungs when we 
broke lines and started for Green River, where a large 
part of our army was. Here we remained some time. The 
railroad bridge over the river had been destroyed by 
order of General Buckner. It ran not only over the river 
but across the valley, was built of iron, and was about a 
thousand feet long. I heard men say that with one ex- 
ception, that of Montreal, it was the longest on the Con- 
tinent. I enjoyed every moment of the time we were 
at Green River, except the last few days. The weather 
was pleasant and the camp was all astir. Soldiers were 
in the woods cutting down trees, teamsters were hauling 
logs, and the bridge was alive with men working on it 
above, while the pontooners were busy beneath. 

General Buell had a large army to provide for, and he 
was obliged to keep up his communications. The rail- 
road had to be put in order, bridges rebuilt, and every- 
thing got in proper train, ere we could follow the enemy. 
We could not live upon the country in our march, for 
there was nothing to live on. 

There w^as skirmishing while we were at Green river, 
but no real battles. Our entrenchments on the enemy's 




POSSUM. 



PROM LOUISVILLE TO NASHVILLE, 125 

side were strong. At one time the Texan rangers attacked 
General Willich's German regiment and there was a severe 
engagement, but I did not see it. Part of our army under 
Generals Thomas and Schoepff was attacked at Somer- 
set, or Mill Spring, in the mountain region. They 
defeated the enemy, and General Zollicoffer, the rebel 
commander, was killed. His army fled across the Cum- 
berland, pursued by our forces. 

Our army was on both sides of Green River waiting 
orders. I spent the days going from one division to an- 
other. Many of the men were restive and anxious to be 
on the road, particularly after they heard of General 
Thomas's victory at Somerset. 

One bright cold morning I had crossed the river and 
gone up some distance with Jim, the captain's, servant. 

He suddenly stopped and pointed to something lying 
at the foot of a tree. 

" Dar's a 'possum ! " 

That said, I looking at it curiously, for I had never 
seen one before. " It is dead." I tried to turn it over 
with my foot. 

** Yah, yah, we'll see dat." 

Jim went back some distance and whistled to his dog. 
Meantime I stooped down and handled it,— the creature 
was dead. 

In a moment Dandy's yelp v/as heard, and, to my 
astonishment, the 'possum sprang up, agile as a cat, and 
darted up a tree. While I looked blank, fully under- 
standing now the meaning of the term 'possuming, Jim 
rolled on the ground and laughed. 

AVe stopped to see General Mitchel's division cross the 
river. Several of General Johnston's staff were near, 
looking on. 

" Do you see that man ? " said one soldier to an- 



126 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

Other, pointing to a gentleman in citizen's dress, who was 
with the officers. '' He is an EngUshman. He makes 
books. I wonder if he is going to make a book about 
us." 

'' What is his name ? " 

" I heard them call him Trollope.'' 

" Why, his mother used to live in Cincinnati ; she built 
the Bazar there. I used to go to dancing school in it ; 
they are a smart family," was the rejoinder. 

Caton had re-enlisted and was in ^^ our company." 
While we were in Kentucky, he and John Stuart had an 
adventure of which they were not a little proud. We 
were encamped for a day or two in a litter secesh neigh- 
borhood. One night, just after supper, a burly, curly- 
wooled black came into camp, his bundle under his arm. 
^' The boys " began to laugh at him, telling him horrible 
stories of the cruelty of the Union soldiers, and in 
various ways tried to get fun out of him. 

Sambo was not to be repressed. He sat by the fire and 
toasted his shins, at the same time eating corn cake and 
bacon from the bundle he had brought with him, and 
laughing and showing his teeth at their threats. Rather 
pleased with his coolness and confidence they let him 
alone. After a time I saw Caton earnestly talking to him ; 
soon they went apart together. 

The negro had informed Caton that his mistress lived 
no great distance off. She was a widow and had two 
sons in the rebel cavalry. She was a hard woman on 
her hands. She had him whipped for some trifling 
offense, and had threatened to send him to her brother's 
plantation in Mississippi. Her two sons, with part of the 
gang to which they belonged, were in the neighborhood, 
and they were to visit her that night. She had had tur- 
keys and chickens killed, and pies baked, to give them a 



FROM LOUISVILLE TO NASHVILLE. l2^ 

good supper ; as he was afraid she would send him away 
with them, he had quietly taken leave. 

At the mention of the visit of the soldiers, Caton con- 
ceived the idea of capturing them. Lem needed no bribe 
to secure his services as guide, so, with promises for suc- 
cess and threats for failure, he started with Caton and 
Stuart, who was eager to participate. Stealing from the 
camp they made their way to the house, a couple of 
miles distant on a side road, in an out-of-the-way situa- 
tion. Lem informed them "' there was an awful fierce 
dog ; " so they lay down behind a fence while he went 
forward. 

Presently they heard the dog bark. A door opened 
and a light gleamed out, but it closed in a moment, and 
Lem came back. 

" Now your time, gemmens," he said ; " I guv Pomp 
a bone. He knowd me ; Zampy, she opened the kitchen 
dor, when she hern him bark. She didn't know I was 
thar. Ther bosses are right across from the kitchen dor, 
hitched to the garden fence." 

To secure these was the first object ; but all five of them 
v\^ere removed without giving alarm, and conveniently 
placed for escape. 

Caton crawled to the window to get a look within. The 
widow, her daughter, and the five men were seated at 
supper. The men's rifles were leaning against a stand 
between them and the door, which opened out on a wide 
covered or roofed passage way, uninclosed at the ends, 
with the rooms built on each side of it. Stuart and Caton 
were to creep into this passage, from which they could 
make a dash through the door and secure the arms, while 
Lem fired off a revolver outside, to make them believe 
they were surrounded. 

Lem went round the house and returned. 



128 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

^' Wait a bit," said he, ^* thar 'bout taking in the last 
batch ob hot griddle cakes. I hern Zampy say that was 
all. Then the niggers will go to eating thar suppers and 
the white folks to talking." 

In a few minutes Caton announced that the cakes were 
in. Stuart and he burst through the door, seized the 
rifles and, ere the party had gained their feet, held them 
to their heads, and commanded a surrender. 

In telling it, Caton said : " Lem kept up such a shout- 
ing and screeching outside, I began to fear something 
was wrong, and that we had fallen into an ambush." 

*' You never saw such crestfallen men in your life, when 
we reached the horses and they saw there were but two 
of us." 

^' Hitched, by Jupiter ! by two Yanks and a nigger ! " 
was the exclamation. 

They threatened to burn Lem if they caught him, and 
made such demonstrations that Caton told them if they 
moved a finger they were dead men. 

When but a little distance from our pickets, a party of 
horsemen were heard approaching. Taking the negro's 
advice they drew back in the woods, dismounted, with 
their bridles on their arms, huddled the prisoners to- 
gether, and stood over them with cocked pieces, assuring 
them at the least noise they would fire. 

" I was afraid," said Caton, " that the horses would lead 
to our discovery, for they were not more than forty yards 
from us. But the night was dark, sleety and cold, and 
the men were muffled up and galloping at a furious rate. 
One of our animals gave a slight neigh, but they did not 
observe it." 

To add to Caton's triumph, it was afterwards ascer- 
tained that the party consisted of twenty-five of John 
Morgan's men, out marauding. 



FROM LOUISVILLE TO NASHVILLE. 129 

The prisoners were put under guard, the horses handed 
over to the quartermaster, and Lem advised to keep out 
of the way of his late friends. He was the most vindic- 
tive negro I ever saw ; he delighted in the capture of his 
former masters, and ground his teeth when he spoke of their 
threat of burning him. When they were within hearing 
he would sing in the most defiant manner : 

'* I've got a wife, and I've got a baby, 
Way up Norf in Lower Canady, 
Won't they smile when they see Old Shady ? 
Coming, — coming — 
Hail ! mighty day ! 
Good-by, Massa Jeff — Good-by, Massa Stephen, 
E'cuse dis darkey for taking aleavin', 
Guess by and by you'll see Old Aby 
Coming, — coming — 
Hail ! mighty day ! " 

It began to rain, regular rebel rain I called it. The 
mud and slush were over ankle deep. Men could not 
march nor wagons move in it. The railroad bridge was 
done and had been tested ; we waited only for some im- 
provement in the weather. At length the order " forward 
march " was heard, and we took the road to Bowling 
Green. John told me our forces expected an attack at 
either Peut's Knob or Glasgow Junction, both having 
strong natural fortifications, but we met no enemy. The 
road was terribly rough and hilly, the country wild, and, 
to all appearance, uninhabited. It rained, it froze, it 
rained again ; the mud was deep, the wind cold. We 
were now forty-two miles from Bowling Green, which 
General Buckner had, several months before, seized and 
fortified, and which they called the ''' Western Manassas." 
Word came that the enemy were about leaving* it, and, 
anxious to meet them there, we hurried on our way. Our 
10 



1 30 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

course was through the Mammoth Cave country. The 
men called it the sieve^ and under pretense of filling their 
canteens, strayed from the column, peering into all sorts 
of queer places. In trying to find the bottom of a cav- 
ernous looking hole, I came near going under. John told 
me that originally the country had been dry and barren ; 
all the rain which fell sunk into the earth and went to 
feed the underground rivers, which are said to abound, 
but the holes through which the water disappeared had 
been stopped by the inhabitants, and large numbers of 
ponds and small lakes had thus been formed, which gave the 
farmers a supply of water to cultivate their fields. The 
fear now was that they would open these holes and let the 
water down and so make it impossible for us to continue 
our advance. There was not a river near, and neither 
men nor cattle could exist on such a march without 
water. The natives, however, satisfied themselves with 
throwing in all the dead animals they could find. 

The boys cast aside most of their luggage and carried 
only what they needed, with their camp equipage on their 
backs. About half the distance was made when, at night. 
General Buell heard that the rebels were already evac- 
uating Bowling Green. He ordered that the army be on the 
road in the ^^ wee sma' hours " of the next morning. 

I was terribly tired ; my boots were wet through, and I 
was shaking with cold when I stretched myself to sleep. 
Nearly two inches of snow fell on us through the night. 
When first I opened my eyes in the dim light I was 
startled to see the men springing up in their whitened 
blankets, looking like ghosts in their shrouds. 

The first five or six miles of the road was the worst I 
ever saw ; it was like climbing up and down steep rocky 
paths. *The ponds were nearly all filled with dead horses 
and cattle, but we made a handful of snow supply the 



FROM LOUISVILLE TO NASHVILLE, 13 1 

place of water. On we went ; the bad road was soon 
passed, the obstructions removed, and, following the blue 
flag of the regiment that had the advance, we moved rap- 
idly forward on a smooth pike leaving the sieve in our 
rear. 

We were nearing Barren river, when Loomis's Battery, 
its gallant leader at the head, went galloping to the front. 
The men threw their knapsacks into any vehicle they 
chanced on and marched double quick. The sound of 
cannon soon gladdened their ears, but they reached the 
bank of the river only to be disappointed. The bridges 
were destroyed, and there was no way to cross. Cold and 
weary, they prepared to pass the night on the ground un- 
der their blankets, when the order came to move. March- 
ing through the snow to the ferry, some three miles below 
the town, some built fires and tried to keep warm while 
their comrades mended an old boat to cross in. Others 
waited for the pontoons. At last a part were ferried over, 
and pushed on, reaching the town at daylight, only to find 
it deserted. A few Texas rangers hastened out as they 
hastened in. 

Loomis's Battery was stationed on a hill overlooking 
the place. When the rebels found we were near, they 
sent a flag of truce to General Buell asking for six hours 
in which to leave, but he ordered the battery' to open 
on the town. I was looking through a glass, and saw the 
people scamper as the shell fell in the streets. They had 
already sent off their artillery and ammunition. Now 
they fired the city. All the railroad buildings were 
burned, and immense piles of corn, wheat and bacon were 
destroyed. 

When our boys entered they ransacked every corner 
and filled their pockets, laying in supplies of tobacco, and 
surfeiting themselves with sweets. I saw great brawny 



1 3 2 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

men with their hands full of candy sucking it like children. 
I had my share too. 

Our whole army was up, in and about the town. The 
women and children and men not in service had gone off 
to Nashville months before, and left the place in the hands 
of rebel soldiers. Some of the houses had been used for 
officers' quarters and for hospitals, and others had been 
taken by the cavalry as stables for their horses. 

Bowling Green lies in a valley commanded by hills. 
The hills had been fortified and their sides filled with pits 
dug to shelter the rebel force. I went with John to visit 
Mount Airy, from which we had a good view of the coun- 
try. Then we went to Underwood and Webb Hills. 
All these had handsome houses upon them which had been 
occupied by rich people before the war. I could not but 
think what a bitter thing it must be to them to be obliged 
to leave such homes and become fugitives, believing, as 
most of them did, that they were in the right. 

The army had orders to pursue and press forward, so 
our stay at Barren River was short. News had been re- 
ceived that General Buckner, with whom we had been 
hoping to have a fight, had been ordered from Bowling 
Green to Fort Donelson, where he was taken prisoner with 
ten thousand men. John told me that the defeat at Forts 
Donelson and Henry was the reason they had abandoned 
their stronghold here ; that they were on the road to 
Nashville, and we must be after them and clear Ken- 
tucky. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

NASHVILLE AND PITTSBURG LANDING. 

WE lost no time, but pushed on to Tennessee, and 
were the first Federal troops that reached its cap- 
ital. We found the bridges over the Cumberland River de- 
stroyed, and, having no means of crossing, could not enter 
the city. While the Engineer Corps were rebuilding the 
bridges General Nelson sailed up the river with his fleet 
and took possession, planting the Stars and Stripes on the 
capitol building. 

This was a great disappointment to General Buell's 
command. AVe had marched far and toiled hard for the 
honor of being the first to deliver the Rock City and un- 
furl the banner of beauty over it. However, we laughed 
the disappointment off, right glad to see the flag of the 
^* Cincinnati Ducks " on the spot where we would have 
been proud to have placed our own. 

John heard me grumbling about it. 

" Ah ! Phil, Phil ! " said he, " you must learn there are 
many things in life so certain apparently that you have 
only to clasp them, yet you never possess them." 

" But we worked hard for this." 

" So did others and got it." 

I never saw a more dismal-looking place than Nashville 
was when we entered it. No houses or stores open, only 
soldiers to be seen in the streets, no markets, nothing that 
looked alive but the military and the negroes. The white 
women and children were hidden away somewhere. They 



134 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

would not even look out at us, but the blacks hung on 
the gates and fences, lauglied and joked and bobbed their 
heads in their happiness, moving off very reluctantly and 
with slow steps in obedience to voices which issued from 
the closed shutters of the houses. 

'^ Where are the white people ? " said I to an old negro. 

'^ Miss Ann and de young ladies peeping up dar." He 
pointed to the barred windows ot the second story. 

General Buell had his headquarters at Edgefield, and 
the army lay about the city, which had been formally 
surrendered to him by the mayor. 

After a few days, when it was discovered that although 
we were '' Yankees " we neither robbed nor murdered the 
citizens, stores and houses began to be opened and women 
appeared in the streets. 

How they despised us ! The people about the country 
were secesh of the bitterest kind, and it seemed utterly 
impossible for them to express their detestation of us. 
To the women especially, the sight of a Union soldier 
was gall and wormwood. I was on the street one day, and 
saw a poor sick fellow in the Federal blue tottering along 
in the sunshine, supporting himself with a stick, when a 
handsomely dressed woman passed. She flirted her gar- 
ments as she neared him and made such a breadth of 
skirt, that, endeavoring to get out of the way, he set his 
cane on her flounce. She felt the strain ere he could 
remove it, and, turning like a tigress, snatched her gar- 
ment from his reach with, 

^' Don't make a door-mat of my dress, you hungry- 
looking caitiff, you." 

The poor fellow trembled and said not a word, but I 
laughed aloud derisively. 

Lieutenant F was passing an elegant mansion one 

morning; two women were standing at one of the windows. 



NASHVILLE AND PITTSBURG LANDING. 135 

and a servant was sweeping the hall. The younger 
woman, as she saw him coming, took the dust-pan from 
the negro girl, and leaned out and emptied it upon him, 
muttering something about '^ mud-sills " as she did so. 
He glanced up, quietly brushed off his coat and walked 
on. Of course these women were not '^ Southern ladies." 
Not so quietly as the lieutenant, however, did a private 
named Hays take such an insult. A female standing upon 
the steps of a house in the city spit upon him as he was 
sauntering along ; he dashed up the steps, and, boxing her 
ears soundly, resumed his walk. 

When the men teased him and good-naturedly flouted 
at his striking a woman, he scratched his head in perplexity 
and said : 

^^ Well, as a general thing, 'taint becoming for a man 
to hit a woman, but, you see, my dander was riz, and 
when I git my ebenezer up for Uncle Sam I generally 
pitch in. 'Twas his soldier was insulted, not me." 

We were six weeks in Nashville. I spent most of the 
time going about the city, which was a very handsome 
one, with beautiful gardens and cultivated grounds sur- 
rounding the houses. Often when I was sauntering about 
the children at play in the yards would call to each other, 
and standing at the gates or leaning on the fences would 
flaunt the " Stars and Bars " in my face, calling " Yankee, 
Yankee," after me. They did not fear me because I was 
a boy. 

One morning John aw^oke me with, 

*^ We have marching orders, Phil." 

" Where do we go ? " 

** To reinforce General Grant." 

Ere long we were on our way to Pittsburg Landing, a 
hundred and fifty miles from Nashville. The boys took 
to the road with a will, panting for the fight. All know 



136 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

how we reached there that Sunday afternoon. I wish I 
could tell you of those two days as others can — as John 
told me. The surprise — the desperate fighting. How 
the foe occupied our camp the first night. How the gun- 
boats saved us, and how the next day we drove the enemy 
on the road to Corinth. 

We reached there just in time not to be too late. I 
can never forget the sight of those panic-stricken men 
clustering under the river bank. All night long our 
forces were crossing the river. The drenching rain came 
and we were without shelter. I wondered if the men felt 
as I did, a burning, gnawing impatience to do something, 
as they waited their turn to be transported over the river 
to the scene of action. 

I sat with my back to a stump, under a great tree 
which threw wide its blasted limbs. Every now and then 
I would fall asleep, nod and start from my uncomfortable 
slumber, to shudder as I awoke to the realities which sur- 
rounded us. 

Early in the morning we heard firing up the Corinth 
road. The battle had begun again. All day long until 
three o'clock in the afternoon it continued. Then the 
cry came that the rebels had given way. General Grant 
headed a charge of six regiments and drove the foe like 
sheep through our camp, which they had occupied the 
night before, the cavalry taking up the pursuit and fol- 
lowing them towards Corinth. 

Many boys with whom I have talked confused Shiloh, 
Pittsburg Landing and Corinth. Pittsburg Landing is a 
landing on the Tennessee river, in Tennessee; a road leads 
from this landing to Corinth, Mississippi, a distance, I think, 
of about twenty miles. It was at Corinth, at which is the 
junction of the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile 
and Ohio Railroads, that the rebel army had assembled. 



NASHVILLE AND PITTSBURG LANDING. 137 

One of General Grant's camps was near Shiloh Church, 
a small log building in the woods between the Landing 
and Corinth ; another was along the road leading from 
Pittsburg Landing to Corinth. The enemy attacked and 
surprised the camp at Shiloh on Sunday morning, April 
5, 1862. 

" These are terrible Sundays, Phil," John had said to 
me the night previous ; I could but contrast them with 
our quiet ones at home ; I told him so. 

^' God will bring good out of this dreadful evil," he 
replied, ^Miereafter all can enjoy just such Sundays, 
with their solemn bells and holy quiet." 

Monday night fell upon our exhausted but victorious 
men. The din of battle was over. The rebel General 
Johnston was dead ; our General Prentiss a prisoner. 
We were surrounded by the dead and dying, corpses 
strewed the country round. 

Men with torches had gone out to search for their 
comrades. One missed a father, one a brother, another 
a friend. Were they dead, wounded, or taken prisoners ? 
None knew. It was only through inquiry and searching 
they could find out. 

I dreaded the sights I should see, but I could not 
keep away ; so, though feeling feverish and sick, unable 
to eat, hot one moment and shivering the next, I joined 
a party which was making its way through the gray 
mud and slush. It was terrible. I shuddered as the 
lantern was turned on the faces of the dead, more 
ghastly in its light, and my head grew dizzy at the 
thought of the wounded who must spend the night 
amid such horrors. 

We passed a pile of corpses. Looking back, I saw 
an arm moving feebly — " See ! There, John, there I " 

We stepped back ; the arm swayed faintly. One, two, 



138 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

three — half a dozen bodies were removed, and a poor fel- 
low was found beneath them, who still breathed, but 
was wounded in the thigh and arm. The battle 
raged furiously where he fell, and he, fainting from loss 
of blood, was unable to move ; his comrades, hurled 
back, had fallen upon him and he was buried beneath 
them. Our voices had reached his ear, but his parched 
lips could make no sound. Succeeding in extracting 
his whole arm he had made the feeble movement of his 
fingers which had attracted my attention and saved his 
life. 

His first motion was for water, which he eagerly 
drank ; this revived him, and he was carried to shelter, 
where his wounds, which were not mortal, were dressed. 

Suddenly one of the men who had stooped over a body, 
turning its face to the light, said, ^' Thank God, 'tis 
father ! '' Tears rained down his sunburnt face, as they 
helped him to raise the old man whose white locks were 
dabbling in blood. The surgeon bent over him and put 
his hand on his heart. 

*^ He lives," he said. 

His head had rested in a little pool of blood and 
mud. A handkerchief was wet with whiskey and his face 
was wiped with it, and some of the liquor forced between 
his teeth ; then he was carried to a stretcher and borne 
away. The surgeon thought he would recover. 

^' If I could only find Ned," said a youth of about 
twenty, who was searching for his brother. 

*"' I will help you to look," John said ; '"' let us go over 
there." 

We heard Caton was missing and spent hours on the 
field looking for him, meeting party after party engaged 
also in looking up their friends. We saw nothing of 
Caton, and hoped he was a prisoner. Exhausted, shiver- 



NASHVILLE Ai\D PITTSBURG LANDING, 139 

ing, my teeth chattering, although the night was warm, 
I at length went to camp, leaving John with the poor boy 
still searching for his brother. One of the surgeons, 
seeming ready to faint from exhaustion, stood drink- 
ing hot coffee from a tin cup, and answering the 
questions of some officers between each draught. I heard 
him, in a stifled voice and with tears in his eyes, tell the 
following : 

** I was passing over the field," he said, ^Svhen a groan 
a?nd cry came from a body I had stepped over and thought 
a corpse. I turned ; the man was on his back and re- 
quested me to put him face up. As I did so I saw he 
was dying. I stooped to another near by, and while help- 
ing him, heard the dying man say : ^ This is glory ! this 
is glory ! ' Thinking it was said in bitterness and regret, 
I stepped back. ' What is glory ? ' I asked. He raised 
his arm feebly and pointed to the sky ; ^ ' Tis glory to 
die with my face upwards,' he whispered, and his breath 
left him." 

I had wrapped my blanket about me and dropped to 
the earth to sleep, when a man near turned and said: ^^ Cap- 
tain Phil, Caton is dead ; he fought like a tiger, and had 
a dozen bullets in him. We brought him in yonder." I 
got him to go with me to the spot. His comrades had 
washed his face, smoothed his hair and straightened him, 
intending to bury him on tlie morrow. His look was 
calm and sweet. I folded his arms across his breast and 
put my little flag in his hands ; then dragged myself back. 
I was in a raging fever, and knew nothing that happened 
for several days ; then I spoke to John of Caton. He 
told me they had buried him, and pointed to my flag, which 
was fastened above my head in the tent. Caton, he said, 
had loaded and was sighting to fire when he stepped over 
a poor rebel boy who begged piteously for water. He 



1 40 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

Stooped and released his canteen to give him some. Just 
then our men fell back, and Caton stood erect to find 
himself in the midst of the foe. He was called upon to 
surrender and his reply was a bullet. The boy he had 
aided shouted to them '^ not to shoot him," but it was too 
late ; he was down. ^^ His last act was a kind one," said 
John, ^^ and he had determined never to be taken pris- 
oner." 

I was in the hospital for some weeks, and as soon as I was 
better John insisted that I should return home with one 
of the surgeons who was going. I went, and the change 
was good for me. In a little time I was as well as ever. I 
had promised John to enter school again, but it was so 
near the vacation they would not receive me. 

John wrote me of the evacuation of Corinth, and told 
me of the eagle of the Eighth Wisconsin, which always pre- 
ceded them to battle, and which the men beHeved could 
not be captured. It was there in our fight, side by side 
with the colors ; every exertion was made to take it by 
the command of the rebel general, but it screeched at 
them in derision and flapped its wings in their faces. It 
was no rebel bird. 

John's division had marching orders and spent much 
time looking after railroads and guarding bridges. They 
went to Huntsville, Alabama, passing through Jacinta, 
Tuscumbia, Florence, etc., and camped at Battle Creek, 
thirty miles south of Chattanooga, on the Tennessee 
River. He described most of these places to me, and 
said there were Union men in all. That the old flag 
would sometimes make its appearance from the inside of 
feather beds and other hiding places where it had been 
stored for safety, and gladden their eyes ; but generally 
the people were either secesh themselves or afraid of their 
secesh neighbors. He gave me many interesting inci- 



NASHVILLE AND PLTTSBURG LANDING. 141 

dents of the contrabands, hundreds of whom were em- 
ployed in camp, driving teams, fortifying, etc. He de- 
scribed the sight of them coming in in parties, with their 
children on their backs and their bundles in their hands, 
as sad, yet ludicrous. Eager for freedom, they had Httle 
idea what it meant — only knew it as no master, and 
no whipping. 

He went into particulars concerning one man who had 
been a sort of valet and house servant, and had several 
times accompanied his master to the North. He was 
quick and intelligent ; he came into camp mounted on 
'his master's best riding horse, which he had '"' bo7' rowed'' 
for the trip. John pictured the fume of the owner who 
followed his ^' chattels " next day to recover them. 

They were five weeks at Battle Creek, then started again 
for Nashville in pursuit of Bragg, who had got in their 
rear. What a race it was ! They marched from Hunts- 
ville, Alabama, to Louisville, a distance of three hundred 
and seventy-eight miles, to find him still before them. 
Sore-footed, almost ragged, they hurried on, thinking to 
overtake him before he reached Louisville ; but he turned 
aside and left them in the lurch. 

In the meantime we had *' a scare " at home. 

Kirby Smith suddenly appeared in Kentucky, threaten- 
ing Cincinnati ; he seized Cynthiana, Frankfort and 
Lexington, having there defeated our troops, mostly raw 
volunteers. People said he was pushing on for the Ohio ; 
that he had twenty thousand men and artillery ; that he 
would burn Cincinnati and capture all the flour and bacon 
for the starving Confederacy, 

The fall term of our school had just begun when the 
news came. Martial law was proclaimed by General Lew 
Wallace, who had done us such good service at Shiloh, 
and who was put in command of the city. All business 



142 CAPTA IN PHIL 

was suspended, and citizens were ordered to report for 
duty. All the men, and the boys who were old enough, 
joined military companies and drilled every day, or were 
formed into working corps, to labor on the fortifications 
over the river, back of Covington. In a day or two the 
enemy's pickets were known to be within six miles of 
that city. 

When the news first came there were no troops for 
defense, but everybody turned out. Some of our teach- 
ers went, as did several of the older boys, and Charley 
Thornley and I went with them. I had fastened my flag 
to the bed post, but I took it down, and Charley and I 
carried it in turn. 

I never saw people so roused ; the news spread like 
wildfire. Every train into the city came crowded with 
troops — the streets were alive with armed men. When 
the ^^ squirrel hunters " came by hundreds, each armed 
with his own peculiar weapon, a sure marksman and 
certain of his prey, the enthusiasm and excite- 
ment was intense. The whole State was up and doing, 
with Indiana, headed by Governor Morton, to help. 

The market houses were turned into eating places. 
Day and night they were supplied with hot coffee and pro- 
visions, which the ladies served to the regiments entering 
the city. A pontoon bridge was laid over the Ohio, and 
gun-boats plied the waters. 

Charley and I were with the working brigades ordered 
to the trenches. Turning out by wards, they were organ- 
ized and marched over the river. Such weeping and 
wailing ! The streets on which we assembled were dense 
masses of human beings ; wives and children had col- 
lected to bid farewell to their loved ones, as though they 
were never to see them again. 

The rebel forces were within about a mile of Fort 



NASHVILLE AND PITTSBURG LANDING. I43 

Mitchell, but their pickets kept very quiet. Once only- 
some skirmishing took place. I believe it was about the 
seventeenth of the month that they fell back to Florence, 
on the Lexington turnpike, some ten miles from Coving- 
ton ; here there was a skirmish between one of our scout- 
ing parties and about a hundred rebels, in which we killed 
some five or six of their men and wounded as many 
others, and put the rest to flight. We had one killed and 
one wounded. After this they retreated rapidly, destroy- 
ing the railroad bridges on their route. 

We were just one week at Fort Mitchell, which was on 
a hill commanding the Lexington turnpike ; Charley and 
I enjoyed every hour of it, and were sorry when, the dan- 
ger over, General Smith having retreated, we were ordered 
home. 

Thus the "" great scare " ended. We returned to the 
city in triumph, and had a welcome that cannot be 
described. The ladies brought their jewelry from their 
hiding places, and fished in their cisterns for the silver 
which had been dropped there, while the bankers called 
back their gold they had sent on a trip to the lakes, and 
all settled quietly down again. 

Then came another excitement. General Bragg threat- 
ened Louisville. General Nelson called upon the citi- 
zens to turn out and defend their city, and remove the 
women and children. But this passed over — Bragg turned 
aside to the interior of Kentucky. 

The next news I heard was that the -th was at 

Louisville, and John sent for me to come to him there. 

Once more I threw my books aside, put on the blue, 
and with knapsack and flag, prepared to join "^ our com- 
pany." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE CHASE AFTER BRAGG. 

THE day after I reached Louisville, the pursuit of Bragg 
was renewed. 

John said : ^' You go wath me, Phil. If you will rush 
into danger, it had better be where I can have an eye on 
you." 

He alluded to our little service in Kentucky. 

^^ You know you would not have had me do otherwise/* 

He smiled and shook his head. 

^^ I am afraid I shall be obliged to let you enter the 
army, Phil, that you may learn how to obey orders. Do 
you really think you would like being a machine, with no 
will of your own, controlled entirely by the words of 
others ?" 

^' If you call a soldier such a machine — I do." 

*^ I have made up my mind, w^hen you are seventeen you 
may do as you please, provided you let me have peace 
until that time." 

^^ That is not very long to wait now," I replied. "If 
the war lasts I shall certainly go in, but only as a volun- 
teer. I have no taste for the regular army ; don't want 
to make a life business of it." 

It was the first or second of October, 1862, that w^e 
again left Louisville. Bragg was ahead of us, and " the 
boys " were very anxious to get up to him and have a 
fight, which they thought would take place at Bardes- 
town. The rebels, however, had a good start, and we did 



THE CHASE AFTER BRAGG. 145 

not come upon them until we reached Perryville, where 
we had a battle. 

It was the 8th of October, I think, when we came in 
sight of the town. The enemy had determined to stand 
fire, so had posted themselves on the hills about a mile 
and a half back of the place ; had planted their batteries, 
and with everything in their favor, waited for us. Gen- 
erals McCook, Mitchell and Rousseau commanded. The 
fight commenced in the forenoon, and lasted until night, 
about five hours. It was called a victory, but the men 
did not appear to rejoice much over it. Colonel Lytle, of 
the Tenth Ohio, was wounded, and for a time supposed 
to be among the dead, but the brave Tenth had still their 
gallant leader a little longer. He was acting brigadier 
that day, and John said he could never forget his heroic 
bearing. John felt very anxious about him until he ascer- 
tained his fate. They had been boys together and he was 
much attached to him. 

Our colonel gave me a duty to perform for him which 
kept me at some distance, so I saw but little of the battle 
of Perryville. 

After seeing to the dead and wounded we again started 
in pursuit of Bragg, who was again ahead of us, having 
"made tracks," as the boys said, directly after the defeat. 
We were nearing Salt River. I had often heard the 
phrase, " Going up Salt River." When one man wished 
to be severe on another, he would say, " I will row him 
up Salt River," or when a man was disappointed in getting 
an office he was said to be " sent up Salt River." I never 
knew the thing to be actually done, save by General 
Buell's army when in pursuit of Bragg. 

The bridge over this stream had been destroyed, and 
the water was low, so it had to be forded, the skirmishers 
going ahead. As I stood on the river bank, and saw the 
10 



146 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

long line of men winding down the hill-sides and plung- 
ing in the water, I thought they fully realized going over 
^^Salt River." 

On we went, pursuing the enemy through Kentucky. 
We passed camp Dick Robinson, which was in Garrard 
County. It was occupied by Federal troops, and was the 
home of Union men who had been compelled to go there 
for safety. Our course was in the direction of Cumber- 
land Gap. 

There was constant skirmishing in the advance. The 
rear of Bragg's army felled all the trees along the road to 
impede our progress ; the pioneer corps were kept busy 
clearing the way. 

The weather was unsettled and cold. One day we 
would have a rain which would seem to penetrate to the 
marrow, thoroughly chilling one. On the next would 
come a snow storm, accompanied by a driving wind, 
which brought the sleet right in our faces, almost blind- 
ing us, while it melted beneath our tread, making a soft, 
slushy mud through which we had to splash ankle deep. 
I must confess I wished myself at home during this 
march. 

One evening, at the close of a very uncomfortable day. 
Smith and Jones saw cows feeding at a distance, across 
some fields which bordered the road. 

" A drink of good warm milk would not be a bad 
thing, Sam." Jones pointed to the animals. 

Smith nodded assent. They watched their opportunity, 
for orders against straggling were stringent, and, dropping 
behind, soon gained the field where the cows were. 
Smith could not milk. Jones sunk on one knee, and 
having no vessel to hold the fluid, milked into his mouth 
until he was satisfied, then offered to perform the same 
service for Smith, who dropped to the earth, and with his 



( 



THE CHASE AFTER BRAGG. 147 

knees on the ground, his hands on his knees, and his 
mouth raised, was intent to catch every drop of the 
precious fluid which Jones was sending into it. They 
were both unconscious of the approach of any one, until 
a kick in the rear sent Smith spinning to some distance, 
the milk in his mouth nearly strangling him. Looking 
round they saw the colonel. 

AVhile Smiith rubbed his hurt part, for the colonel's 
heel was of iron, Jones turned to that officer : 

"Won't you take your turn, sir ? It is mighty good." 

" Good ! you great calf ! " Jones dodged the blow 
aimed at him. " If you are not in your places in the 
column in five minutes you will march the rest of the 
way tied to the tail of a wagon." 

" We made tracks after that, you can bet on it," said 
Jones, when telling it. " I saw the colonel was only put- 
ting on mad. He was almost choking to keep from laugh- 
ing at the figure Sam cut, on his knees, his mouth stretched 
from ear to ear, the milk dropping from the corners as 
from a puling baby's." 

Many of the men were foot-sore,' but I heard little 
complaining, although some were dispirited with their 
long marches and want of success. 

Fording the streams was a most uncomfortable business 
' for the infantry. I know I shuddered when we came to one. 

At length we reached Wild Cat Mountains and followed 
them to the top, then the pursuit was given up, much to 
the mortification of the troops. Bragg was allowed to es- 
cape from Kentucky with all his baggage and almost his 
entire army. 

For nearly a year they had been chasing, first Buckner, 
then Bragg, and now, discouraged and mortified, after a 
short halt were ordered to move in the direction of Nash- 
ville, which was threatened by the enemy. 



148 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

It was the 2d of November when we arrived in front of 
that city, and went into camp, where we remained for 
nearly two months. Thanksgiving followed not long 
after we were settled, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. 

General Buell was removed, and a new chief, Major- 
General Rosecrans, was appointed, and now commanded 
the Fourteenth Army Corps. 

Nashville was girdled by our tents, which circled it in 
front, covering the hills and extending out on the Mur- 
freesboro', Nolensville and Franklin roads, to the distance 
of eight or nine miles. 

I went frequently into the city, which was fortified on 
all sides. Most of the beautiful houses were shut up or 
occupied by the Federal officers as quarters. General 
Rosecrans was located in one of the handsomest of these 
dwellings. The city looked as though nothing but w^ar 
had ever been carried on in it ; soldiers filled the avenues, 
banners hung in the air, cavalry galloped through the 
streets, and cannon rolled over the stones and frowned 
on you from the fortresses, while barricades stopped your 
progress. Almost every woman you saw wore mourning, 
and looked at you as though you had caused her woe. 

One day early in December, John went out with a for- 
aging party, over the ground which lay between our camp 
and the enemy's. They had seized a quantity of corn 
and were preparing to return with it, when a company of 
rebel cavalry came in sight and attacked them. They had 
to fight, and, after a short skirmish, came off victorious, 
thanks to a detachment of artillery which had accom- 
panied them. These skirmishes took place every day, 
and the men liked the excitement. 

One day I was in Nashville, where I had been sent on 
an errand to the quartermaster's department, and saw 
one of the oddest sights imaginable. 



THE CHASE AFTER BRAGG. I49 

A band came through the streets playing the '' Rogue's 
March," and following it were some forty-five or fifty 
men, their heads ornamented with funny white cotton 
night-caps, trimmed with red flannel. They were ac- 
companied by a guard. 

I vras told it was a punishment inflicted by order of 
General Rosecrans because they had been guilty of the 
cowardice of surrendering to the rebels without striking a 
blow. Some of them seemed to feel the disgrace, others 
looked sullen ; some again as if they did not care at all. 

On the 24th of December orders came to march next 
morning. The men rent the air with their shouts, and 
joked each other as to the Christmas gifts to be expected, 
preparing with glee as though for a frolic. Their joy was 
short-lived, however, for that very evening, when all was 
in readiness, and the chances of the morrow were under 
discussion, the order was countermanded. 

With murmurs of discontent and mutterings of ^' an- 
other Kentucky campaign," all sought to forget disap- 
pointment in sleep, and be ready to spend Christmas in 
camp. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

MURFREESBORO'. 

CHRISTMAS, with its thoughts of home, was over. 
The next morning the army began to move. Lieu- 
tenant B had captured several horses from the rebels. 

One of these he purchased from the quartermaster and 
presented to John ; he gave it to me, saying that I could 
keep and use it, provided my so doing involved little ex- 
pense, and no trouble to any but myself. The horse was 
a small black one, with a close cut mane and tail, which 
gave him a bobbed appearance ; but he went like the 
wind and was hardy and tough. I called him Lightfoot. 

Full of my acquisition I forgot John's orders, and sev- 
eral times in my eagerness to display my new friend ven- 
tured further in the advance than I should have done. 
Once I was in the midst of General McCook's Division, 
which had taken the Nolensville pike, when a smart skir- 
mish took place, in which eight or ten men were killed. 
The whizzing of the bullets about my head quickened 
my recollection of John's injunction to keep near him, 
and I moved in his direction at a rapid rate. Our divi- 
sion had taken the Murfreesboro' road, while General 
Thomas's was on the Franklin pike. 

The men were in excellent spirits, eager for the work, 
and sure they would route the Graybacks long ere they 
reached Murfreesboro'. The officers said there was 
a bitterness in their speech and action very different from 
the feeling displayed in the beginning at Bull Run. 



MURFREESBORO\ IS 1 

Christmas had been a soft, mild day, but about an hour 
after our march began the rain came down on us and 
continued steadily, penetrating everything. 

John's company was in the rear of our brigade. The 
front was far ahead, and the constant firing heard from 
that point told of some sharp skirmishing. The men 
commented on this, and fought the cedars in the way to 
keep their hands in. One broad-shouldered six-footer 
from an Illinois prairie was particularly anxious to get 
along, and restive at the sound. Every nov/ and then he 
gave his trowsers an impatient hitch and clutched his 
rifle with a more determined grasp. Evidently all his 
life he had been on his own hook, and restraint galled 
him. 

^' Hear the cusses," he would say, as the sounds reached 
him. " Leftenant, can't we git ahead ? " 

x\t one juncture, when the firing was brisker, he cried 
out : "I'd like to have a hand in sending their souls a-kit- 
ing." 

" You had better pray for them ; they have wives and 
children at home," said a middle-aged class-leader from 
Michigan or Wisconsin, who had fallen back and was 
trying to regain his place. 

" That's the best we know of them ; no harm meant, it's 
my way of talking, only let's git shut of them." Then 
eyeing his rebuker from head to foot with a keen side 
glance — ^^ May be you're the chaplain, stranger ? If so, 
you've a mighty big contract on hand, praying for their 
souls while we punish their bodies ; but you look as if 
you might be a fighting parson." 

The road was bad, through forest and cedar brakes, 
and our progress slow. I wished to gallop on, but 
John would not permit it. Poor Frank Hanson was 
brought to the rear, killed, and several others also 



152 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

who were wounded. The men looked soberly after them 
as they were borne past, and struck up "" Jordan is a Hard 
Road to Travel." 

Our corporal hurt his thigh so that he could not walk. 
John offered him my horse, which he thankfully accepted, 
and I bade adieu to Lightfoot, and took my place again in 
the ranks beside John, who was not mounted. 

" You'll find Jordan indeed a hard road to travel, 
Captain Phil," said Jones, slapping me on the shoulder 
as I fell in step before him. 

^^ To tell the truth, I am not sorry you had to resign 
your four-footed friend, Phil ; he was likely to take you 
into trouble. I have been thinking for the last hour that 
permitting you to have him was not the most judicious 
thing I ever did," was John's remark. 

I sang loudly for a few moments to drown my disap- 
pointment, then in the excitement of the march forgot it. 
Very tired that night, I slept soundly. 

We were late next day taking to the road. In the even- 
ing we reached Stewart's Creek just in time to save the 
bridge, which had been set on fire. Here we bivouacked, 
and stayed till Monday morning ; thanks to General 
Crittenden who, I was told, opposed the Sunday march. 
He said he thought it best to be on the right side of the 
Master above, as we were soon to go into battle and per- 
haps to appear before Him. All enjoyed the Sunday 
rest. I saw our Methodist and Illinois friend sitting on a 
log in close confab ; I drew John's attention to them. 
He said the prairie man's name was Job Smith ; he be- 
longed to his company, and was a character. The 
other he did not know. John and I had a good 
talk on Sunday. I saw he was trying to prepare me 
for the worst ; he took my Bible and wrote these 
verses in it : 



MURFREESBORO\ 153 

" Lowly and solemn be 
Thy children's cry to Thee, 

Father Divine : 
A hymn of suppliant breath. 
Owning that life and death 
Alike are thine. 

Tremblers beside the grave. 
We call on Thee to save, 

Father Divine : 
Hear, hear our suppliant breath : 
Keep us in life and death 

Thine, only thine." 

The next day we crossed the creek and continued on 
the pike. There was sharp fighting on the front. In ex- 
pectation of a general engagement, John ordered me to 
keep with the teams, so I fell to the rear. We were close 
on to Murfreesboro' ; in sight of the enemy's intrench- 
ments ; could hear them plainly at night. Things looked 
serious ; the men were earnest and expectant ; so we pro- 
ceeded until the 31st. 

The pioneers were engaged cutting roads through the 
cedars for the teams ; all was bustle and preparation, put- 
ting things in position for battle. I did not see John all 
day Tuesday ; slept at night on one of the wagons ; and 
was roused in the morning long before it was light with 
preparations for an attack. 

Anxious, restless, excited, my only thought was of John ; 
he might be wounded — killed ; I had not seen him for so 
many hours. It was necessary constantly to remind my- 
self of his command, and my promise to stay in the rear, 
to keep from the advance. It was hard, very hard, when 
I saw boys but little older than myself exultant in the 
thought of the conflict. I began to feel my brother had 
required too much of me. 

The roar of battle began. Word reached us that 



154 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

McCook's Division had given way. Ere long, crashing 
through the cedar brakes, dashing forward, came fugitives 
from that corps ; two or three at first, followed by num- 
bers, filled with consternation and alarm. The rebels 
were at their heels. . The teamsters looked eagerly into 
each other's faces ; hangers-on mounted their horses ; the 
guard adjusted their arms and waited expectantly, while 
the routed men passed on. 

A little while and a staff-officer made his appearance 
with an order ; I edged close to him to listen to what he 
said. He was in a state of wild enthusiasm. General 
Rosecrans had stationed his forces between the track and 
the pike ; masked his batteries ; the ranks had received 
the fugitives as they came ; opened, let them through, and 
closed like veterans. The pursuing rebels, supposing 
they had the road clear to Nashville, were shooting them 
down like squirrels. Our masked batteries opened upon 
them; they were struck with astonishment; paused; made 
an ineffectual resistance; wheeled — the tables were turned. 

While we rejoiced over this, told in hurried sentences, 
a shower of bullets suddenly whizzed about our ears. 
The old indescribable feeling came over me ; I dodged. 
I felt that the next shot must certainly carry off an arm 
or leg ; then came the desperate conclusion that, boy as I 
was, I must stand up to it any how ; I was covered with 
shame at the idea of feeling like a coward. A dashing, a 
clashing, another volley ; demands to surrender ; and we 
were captured. A party had come upon our rear — we 
were prisoners. With blank, astonished faces, the men 
recognized the fact. The rebels rummaged the wagons ; 
jeered us, and claimed a complete victory over all our 
forces. Time passed slowly by. Another sudden dis- 
charge of musketry, confusion and strife — the teams were 
recaptured by our men — we were free. 



MURFREESBORO\ ISS 

News from the front told of disaster and a fearful loss 
of officers. Divisions had to fall back for want of ammu- 
nition. While we waited the turn of events, the men 
speculating on the result, straining eyes and ears for in- 
formation, or joking and telling little incidents of their re- 
cent capture, I tried to learn something concerning John ; 
I questioned all who would answer me. One said he was 
in the reserve ; another thought him a prisoner ; while a 
third knew his regiment was engaged — one statement 
contradicted the other. In a state of wearing uncertainty, 
feeling really ill from anxiety, I went aside and seated 
myself against a tree. 

I had been there but a very little while when I saw a 
squad of rebel cavalry dashing across some fields. They 
fired as they came, and in a few minutes were on us. 
Resistance was useless ; they outnumbered the guard two 
to one. An officer with a bright red head of hair com- 
manded them. Riding up to a quartermaster, who shone 
in a new suit of clothes, he held a pistol to his head with, 

" Your cap ? " The cap was resigned. 

" Your coat ! " Slowly it was drawn off. 

" Your watch ! " This demand produced a remon- 
strance, which was cut short by the rejoinder, 

" Another word and I will blow your brains out! " The 
watch followed the coat. 

"Your pantaloons ! " Reluctantly and with an inde- 
scribable look the inexpressibles came off amid shouts of 
laughter from the Graybacks. 

"Your boots ! " The chivalric Southerner held one in 
his grasp his hand outstretched for the other, when a yell 
from a group of teamsters, and a whiz of balls from a 
little distance caused him to turn in his saddle — our 
friends were at the rescue. 

The quartermaster understood the state of things in 



156 CAP TAIN PHIL, 

a moment, and danced around in his drawers, vest and 
stockings in a most ludicrous manner, brandishing his 
boot and shrieking frantically : " Shoot that red-headed 
scoundrel ; shoot him, I say ; down with the thief ! " 
Attracted by his mad gestures, a stout trooper spur- 
red to the rebel's side, seized his horse's rein, thrust a 
pistol in his face, and bade him surrender himself a 
prisoner. With one glance around, the officer yielded 
his arms. 

Springing forward like a tiger cat, the quartermaster 
seized a revolver from one near, and, holding it to the 
breast of the rebel, jerked out with spasmodic contortions : 
^^ My cap, my coat, my watch, my pantaloons, my 
boots," making him deliver them one by one, and jump- 
ing frantically at each piece as it was presented. The 
spectators were convulsed with laughter ; the quarter- 
master shouldered his wardrobe and sought a more con- 
venient space to dress in, muttering not very amiably 
the while, and the rebel officer was put under guard 
with the other prisoners. 

This game of capturing and recapturing was played so 
often during the day, that in the evening one of the 
teamsters, in mortal terror, with downcast eyes, trem- 
bling limbs, and slow steps, dragging his "snake" after 
him, sought a sergeant and inquired which side he 
belonged to. When told he was still in the Federal 
service he made his " snake " ring again as he cracked 
it around his head and went off rejoicing. 

Various and contradictory were the reports of the con- 
flict which reached us. Prisoners were sent back, ambu- 
lances arrived with the wounded. At one time they told 
us our artillery was all captured ; at another, that we were 
driving all before us. Night, however, came at last, and 
with it the certainty that our forces had not been driven 



MURFREESBORO\ 157 

back ; but there was mention of fearful loss in officers and 
men. If not a defeat, it was no victory. 

" A pretty figure we'll cut in an official report," said 
one of McCook's men. 

" The truth is," said another, talking to a group, " we 
were whipped ; but General Rosecrans did not know he 
was whipped, and he would not stay whipped." 

I could hear nothing of John ; it was the first time since 
the beginning of the war that we had been separated for 
so long a time. In a state of utter exhaustion I lay down 
and slept soundly. 

An order came the next morning for the train to 
advance, which it did. I heard of John ; he was ahead. 
Towards evening I reached him. He hugged me close 
when we met, saying : '' Thank God, Phil, we are safe 
after such a terrible day." 

John was on duty near the river, and sent me to a less 
exposed position. There was some fighting, but it did 
not amount to much. John had a horse killed under 
him. 

The next day there was a terrible conflict. General 
Crittenden's corps was engaged. The firing was deafen- 
ing ; the dead lay in heaps ; the enemy was driven back 
almost to Murfreesbcro'. Part of the forces crossed the 
river in the rain, mud, and darkness, and occupied the 
heights. Amid all this blood and slaughter I was thankful 
and happy as I lay that night beside John in our bed of 
mud, with no shelter from the rain, which fell steadily, 
for my all was unharmed and near me. John was almost 
exhausted, but he talked to me before we slept — told me 
something of the battle. 

" If I did not know it was for God and the right, Phil, 
I could not stand it," he said in conclusion. I was wake- 
ful and restless, and lay for a long time watching the 



158 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

camp fires gleaming in the darkness ; the forms that 
moved athwart them appeared hke demons in the lurid 
light. It brought to mind Dante's Hell, which I had 
read to John the winter before. I thought over every- 
thing — our father, our mother ; I could feel their presence 
almost. How their spirits must rejoice over John ! 
Lieutenant G — 's words came to me in speaking of him : 
" A Christian soldier, doing his duty for God and his 
country." 

Not far from us lay an officer with his feet to the fire. 
He arose in the night to kick the brands together ; a 
voice from the mud, at a little distance, hailed him as he 
stood in the light 

^^ Halloo, Joe, is that you ? " 

*^ Why yes, Jim ; were you in the fight ? " 

^^ No ; the rascals captured my ammunition train ; my 
horse's legs saved me. Heard from home lately ? " 

** About a fortnight since, all were well." 

"It's a little damp." 

" SHghtly." 

They sought the earth again. They were brothers, and 
it was the first time that they had met for more than 
eighteen months. 

On Saturday it was dark, gloomy, and rainy — a dread- 
ful day. The men appeared serious and depressed, not- 
withstanding their victory. There was a sharp contest 
up the Murfrecbboro' road. The rain and the state of the 
earth made it almost impossible to move. The pickets 
were firing all day ; two of John's company were wounded 
while on that duty. 

Our men had an antipathy to being handled by the 
rebels after death. " Don't let them put me under 
ground," you would hear them say, speaking of the 
chances of their being killed. Passing a spot where the 



MURFREESBORO\ IS9 

carnage had been greatest, we saw a man near some 
bushes stooping over another and trying to raise him. 
We drew near, and found it was Job Smith ; the person 
he was trying to aid was the one they called the ^' class- 
leader," and he was dead. Job turned as he heard us. 

** He's gone where they daren't show their faces. You'll 
just help me to put the earth over him, won't you ? He 
had a mighty soul." He raised himself and wiped his 
face with his sleeve. I saw his right arm was in a sling 
and bandaged. 

"' You see I got hurt. I had kind of taken a liking to 
him there. He told me his history — how he was wild in 
his youth, but he got converted at a big meeting, when 
the Lord made His presence known amid the prayers and 
the psalms — how he married and had five children. Then 
the war came, and he thought he must come and fight 

these . I speak hard," he lowered his voice and 

checked himself, "but I mean no harm." 

" Well, the wife and children tugged at his heart-strings ; 
he did not know what to do, so he prayed on it — and he 
came. He warn't dead when I found him ; he pinted to 
his mouth ; was parched for water. He had lain here 
since Wednesday, with all the rain on him ; just dragged 
himself to this clump. It's wonderful how wounded men 
will try to get to any stump or stick near, as though 
there was shelter in it." Job wiped his face again. " ^ I've 
tried to do my duty. It's a righteous cause. Be true to 
it, friend ; fight on, and trust in God's mercy.' These 
were his last words." 

Job paused a moment. " I ain't of much account in 
this fix " — he touched his arm — '' but I'll give any man a 
month's pay who'll help me put him decent under 
ground." 

They dug his grave where he lay. Job took his watch, 



l6o CAPTAIN PHIL, 

memorandum book, and some other things from his 
pocket for his wife. 

"I promised to see she got these, and to tell her to 
trust in God. If the Graybacks let my soul loose before I 
git a chance, why some comrade who writes a better fist 
than I do will let her know about it," he said, as, stoop- 
ing over the dead man, he sawed a lock of his iron-gray 
hair from his head with his pocket-knife, and laid it rev- 
erently between the leaves of the book. 

The dead lay in all conceivable positions ; most of them 
had quiet, serene faces, as though they had died with their 
heads upon their mothers' breasts. We saw in one place 
the gray locks of a man of sixty dabbling in the same 
pool with the fair curls of a boy of eighteen, and both 
wore a smile. Yet there were many who had died hard ; 
whose faces were yet distorted and drawn, even in the 
peace of death. I had seen enough. Fatigue, excite- 
ment, and fasting — for I had been unable to eat any 
breakfast within the sight of so much blood and the hor- 
rors of that battlefield — overcame me — I fainted. 

I was lying by the camp fire when our corporal came up. 

"Much obliged for your horse. Captain Phil, but I 
do not think I shall want to borrow him again ; he liked 
to have been the death of me." 

" How ? " 

" I had crossed some fields, and coming to a house 
which stood in an out-of-the-way locality stopped for a 
drink. In answer to my ^ halloo/ a couple of little nig- 
gers made their appearance. One of them exclaimed, as 
soon as he caught sight of. me: ^ Golly, Jake, here's one 
of Linkin's soldiers on massa's bob-tailed black.' Almost 
at the same moment the door of the house opened and 
two rebel soldiers presented themselves. Both fired, but 
by good luck neither of them hit me. I put spurs to bob- 



MURFREESBORO\ l6l 

tail, and they mounted horses, which must have been hid- 
den in the rear of the house, and after me. We had a 
hard ride, but I had the advantage. Reaching a clump 
of trees, I kept their shelter while I gave them a volley. 
One of them was hit in the shoulder and stopped ; the 
other came on, sending a bullet through my hat, and 
showering patches of mud on me ; but his horse stumbled 
on the ploughed ground and nearly threw him, and when I 
reached the road and looked behind he had turned back." 

A private who lay near and heard this, laughed and 
said : " Not long ago we were out after horses, and came 
to that very house. We seized that black, and I was 
leading him away when a very pretty girl made her ap- 
pearance, and going up to the animal threw her arms 
around its neck, caressed and patted it as though it had 
been human, cried, and begged the officer in command 
not to take ^ her horse — her own riding horse, given her 
by her father. No one had ever mounted him but her- 
self. She had had him so long it would distress her 
dreadfully to part with him.' 

" The lieutenant was not tear-proof ; he could not 
stand it ; ordered me to let the horse go. She seized its 
bridle, bowed, smiled, and was profuse in her thanks, but 
there was a wicked gleam in her eye as we rode off. The 

very next day, in a skirmish. Lieutenant B captured 

that horse and its rider, as ugly a customer, in the way of 
a rebel, as you would wish to see." 

The enemy had evacuated Murfreesboro' ; our cavalry 
were in pursuit. The infantry did not move. We had 
lost such a number of horses that it crippled us ; the 
artillery could not be forwarded ; heaps of carcasses cum- 
bered the battle-ground. The business of the hour was 
caring for the wounded and burying the dead. 

Thus ended our week of battles. 
n 



CHAPTER XIX. 

AFTER THE BATTLE. 

THE first opportunity I had I returned to the battle- 
field. With all its horrors it had a fascination I 
could not resist. I might be of some service ; might give 
help or water to some poor mangled fellow dying alone. 
When I thought of the wounded exposed to yesterday's 
dreadful weather I shuddered. 

A squad detailed to look after such were talking of a 
soldier they had buried, who proved to be a woman. 
They then spoke of the young scout, Frank Martin, who 
was badly shot in the chest, and who, they said, was a 
woman. She belonged to the Second East Tennessee 
Cavalry, had entered Nashville with the regiment, having 
joined it some time previously. No one suspected she was 
not a boy until she was wounded and her shirt was opened 
by the surgeon. They lauded her bravery in the highest 
terms. 

I had seen Frank once. She had been out scouting, 
and was on horseback before the general's tent awaiting 
orders, when I stopped to look at her. She was slight, 
and looked young ; had reddish hair and blue eyes, and 
made a pretty-looking boy. She had borne all the hard- 
ships of this campaign without a murmur, although it had 
tried veterans ; had waded Stone River with the troops, 
and had been the bravest among braves. 

This brought Joseph to my mind, and I told them her 
story. 



AFTER THE BA TTLE. 163 

" Just like a woman," said one. '^ Cross her and she is 
the devil. You might as well try to turn that river up 
stream as to try to stop a woman when she is in love." 

" Frank is under guard, to be sent home," said an- 
other ; " though it's no use ; they might as well let her 
alone ; she is bound to have her way, and she'll enlist in 
some other regiment." 

" There are more women in this army than we know," 
continued the first speaker. ^^ There's that one from 
Michigan. I kept guard with her many times. I'd as 
soon have thought my mother a man as she a woman. 
She did not flinch at anything. She stood the rain and 
cold, and kept picket guard as well as the best of us ; 
smoked, chewed, swore, and drank whiskey, for all the 
world like a man, and a fast one too. Here the other 
day her husband was killed in the ranks right before her 
face, and she kept ahead, stepped over his dead body, 
and charged the rebs." 

** She's a tough one. I don't care for that sort. Her 
being a woman is only a mistake. It's the Frank Mar- 
tins who make me wonder and think there's something 
wrong." 

" Take care, don't tread on that chap, he is alive." 

They raised him ; he was gasping his last. In a 
moment or two they laid him down ; he was dead. 

Beside him was a Graycoat, with whom he had evi- 
dently been in conflict. The man in charge stooped over 
him. 

^^ Here, comrades, this poor fellow is in a bad fix ; but 
there's life left : for how long God only knows. Bring 
the stretcher this way ; we will let the surgeon see him 
as soon as may be ; and, Dan, you give him some water. 
Fulfill Scripture, and do good to your enemy for once." 

On we went, hour after hour. Near noon we saw, close 



i64 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

to the swamp, among many still forms clad in blue and 
gray, an old man evidently dying. He had half raised 
himself from his bed of mud and gore, and, leaning on 
his elbow, was propped by the dead body of a comrade, 
his head bowed upon his breast. There was a deep 
wound in the head, another in the chest. 

One gave him some brandy. After a few moments he 
revived and muttered indistinctly. 

" What is that he says ; it is a name," and the man 
kneeled down to listen. 

** Do you know Harry L s ? " 

" No." 

" Some more." He pointed to the brandy flask. 

They raised his head and poured a little in his mouth. 
After several efforts he swallowed it. Seeing he was 
dying, the men began to prepare to leave him to attend 
others who needed their services more. He observed 
the movement, and, clutching with his hand, whispered : 
" Don't." 

" Will you stay with him. Captain Phil ? It will only 
be for a little while ; but he may have something to say. 
He is an old man and must have a family." 

I assented, and they left me. 

He muttered to himself. Occasionally I could catch 
words. '* Harry," — " not lire at his old father," — *^ Lucy 
— forgive him — Yankees." Then he opened his eyes ; 
they seemed quick and bright. He glanced round in a 
startled way, rested them a moment on me, and closed 
them again. I gazed at the signs of the battle around 
me and waited the end. 

A sort of breast-work had been made of the limbs and 
tops of trees, torn by shell and ball from the neighbor- 
ing forest, and behind this a squad of rebels had fought. 
Before me a shell had exploded, killing several horses 



AFTER THE BATTLE, 1 65 

and scattering the earth in all directions. One man had 
lost his head by it, and his body lay straight in death, his 
right arm thrown up as if to protect his face. Several 
had sought the shelter of these branches to die. One 
had printed his name in the mud beside him ; another 
had his red cotton handkerchief over his face. While I 
gazed two officers appeared a little way off. I recog- 
nized them as John and Lieutenant Thomas Murdock, 
and gladly hailed them. 

John opened the old man's shirt, while Lieutenant Mur- 
dock wet his handkerchief and bathed his face, 'i'he 
brandy he had swallowed had taken effect ; he raised his 
head and sat upright. After one or two gasps he made a 
motion to his breast. John drew forth his watch ; he 
nodded assent, and tried to reach a pocket in his shirt. 
John aided him, and produced a small memorandum or 
pocket-book, between the leaves of which were several 

letters addressed to Henry L s. The pocket-book 

had the same name in itj added to which was : ^' Georgie, 
send them." He fell back, closed his eyes, and mur- 
mured several indistinct words. Presently we made out 
'^ Home," — "My God," — "My heaven," — "My all." 
His mind wandered. 

"Sing, 

' When I can read my tide clear/ 

Phil," said John, who had been stooping over him, 
" he is trying to repeat it." 

I began it. He opened his eyes and worked his hands 
feebly together until he got them clasped. 

" Kneel beside him," said John, " he hears you ; but 
he is going fast." 

His eyes followed me as I dropped and sang close to 
his ear. He tried to raise himself. Lieutenant Murdoch 



1 66 CAP TAIN PHIL, 

lifted him in his arms. He gasped — a hollow sound came 
from his throat. I stopped. 

" Sing on louder, Phil." 

I continued. Gradually his eyes became fixed. As I 
gave the last line, 

** Across my peaceful breast," 

there was a sigh ; his head fell on one side ; he was 
dead. 

John stooped, as Lieutenant Murdoch laid him down, 
and cut a lock of his gray hair from his head, placing it 
in one of the letters. As he raised himself he said : " He 
is old enough to be our father, Phil, and we will bury 
him as tenderly as though he was." 

We left him and moved on over the field, rendering 
what assistance we could. We chanced upon an Irish- 
man belonging to Company K, who was desperately 
wounded. He was begging for a priest. We knew not 
where to find one just then. He piteously bemoaned 
that he had not been baptized, and implored that it 
might be done for him. John told him he believed, in 
his Church, in case of emergency any one might baptize 
a dying man, and offered to perform the rite for him. 
He gladly assented. 

Taking from his watch chain a little jet cross he had 
worn for years, he put it in the wounded man's hands. 
We took off our caps, standing uncovered, while John, 
making the sign of the cross, first upon the man's breast 
then upon his forehead, went through the usual formula. 

He was evidently much relieved ; but he did not die. 
In a very short time he was again in the ranks doing good 
service. When he restored the little jet cross to John on 
regaining the regiment, he said : " May the holy Mary 
keep you, leftenant, and if the devil ever cheats me into 



AFTER THE BA TTLE. 167 

going into battle again without the blessed sacrament, 
he'll be a smart devil, that's all." 

I picked up the photograph of an old lady, whose son 
must have worn it on his person. One of the men had 
quite a collection of letters procured in the same way — 
a lock of long light curly hair was in the envelope of one 
of them. He also had a pocket handkerchief with 
" Mary " embroidered on it. 

We approached one place where the battle had raged 
terribly — a heap of dead told of the nature of the strife ; 
a soldier who stood near us stooped and turned the face 
of a corpse at his feet, upwards. 

" It is one of the color guard of the T — th, poor fellows ! 
the whole eight were killed gallantly fighting in defense 
of the flag ; they determined it should not fall into the 
hands of the enemy. Emory carried it through, although 
he was desperately wounded." 

On our way to the pike, crossing the cotton-field we en- 
countered dead men, mules and horses, fragments of 
artillery, carriages, caissons and accoutrements lying in 
heaps together, their disposition showing the fierceness of 
the fight. We met two men carrying in a wounded rebel, 
who had dragged himself to the shelter of a cedar thicket 
w^here he had lain since Friday. They paused for a mo- 
ment to rest and I stepped up to look at him. His face 
was strangely familiar, but I could not place it. As they 
lifted him again he opened his eyes. He was Morris, 
Carrie's brother, who had taken me prisoner in Virginia. 
I told John of my discovery. He followed the men who 
had him in charge to the hospital tent where the 
surgeons were operating, saw he was. made as com- 
fortable as possible until his turn came to be examined, 
after which he meant that all attention should be paid 
him. 



1 68 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

John and Lieutenant Murdoch were talking of Mike, the 
Irishman whom John had baptized, when the lieutenant 
said: " My brother James, who is ordnance officer in Gen- 
eral Johnson's division, told me of a singular thing he 
saw a few days since." 

" He was riding with some others in the direction of 
Murfreesboro', when they came upon a dead rebel lying 
close to the road. One of the party alighted and went 
forward to examine him ; in a moment he called the others 
to come near ; they did so, and saw tattooed upon the 
dead rebel's breast, from which the shirt had been re- 
moved, a perfect representation of the crucifixion, the 
cross, the Saviour, the women and the crowd, their faces 
distinct, and right through the center of the cross, pierc- 
ing the breast of the Saviour, had gone a minie ball, 
clean — leaving no jagged edges. It was so remarkable 
that the body was ordered to be taken in for others to 
see it, but when those charged with the office went for 
it, it was no longer there." 

They spoke of the week which had passed, and Lieu- 
tenant Murdoch, who had acted as aid to General Van 
Cleve, described the fortunes of those days in the most 
enthusiastic manner. 

^^ I thought all was lost and I hoped a shot would kill 
me, as in desperate, sullen silence we awaited orders — 
powerless, watching what we believed to be the entire 
rout of the army — not a word was spoken. 

"The batteries were massed, the life or death of the 
army hung on the issue. Our eyes were fixed upon the 
woods, where the enemy must come out; they were making 
a detour to reach us — would they come within range of 
our batteries ? Suddenly with wild yells they swarmed 
forth. There was a cloud of lurid flame — smoke — the 
swoop of shot and grape, the whistling of balls, the 



AFTER THE BATTLE, 169 

whirring shriek of shells, the crash of shivering trees, 
groans, cries, then an instant's silence. 

'' Had we gained an advantage ? A shrill shout told of 
triumph ; another, then there was a charge, and heaps of 
mangled forms cumbered the ground, and shrieking 
fugitives, flying from the hurtling fire, proclaimed the tide 
had turned. 

*^ We scarcely breathed as this passed before us, but 
when we saw the scattered host we turned our faces in 
congratulation to each other, and were not ashamed that 
they were wet with tears; they were our Thanksgiving." 

I was not sorry to hear that our trains were up, as we 
had been rather short of provision the last twenty-four 
hours, and the men were anxious for their rations. I took 
my meal with Lieutenant Murdoch and John. Several 
times the recollection of what I had seen made me faint 
and sick, and I found I had not yet become inured to the 
sights of a battlefield. 

Just before sunset I saw Private D walking towards 

the place where his company had their quarters with some- 
thing in his arms, which he was carrying tenderly. Curi- 
ous to know if he had found a baby, I made my way to 
him. It was a dog having hair of a beautiful shiny black. 
The private had come across him on the battlefield whin- 
ing beside his dead master. The dog's leg had been 

broken by a shot, and his tail carried away. D had 

splintered and bound up his leg, and avowed his intention 
to take care of him, having already named him Rosy. 

I saw John coming from the hospital. He had been to 
inquire for Morris. The surgeon told him fever had set 
in and there was little hope for him. He did everything 
for him that could be done, but he never recognized me, 
and died in a few days, delirious. John took charge of 
his few things, and wrote a long letter to his mother, after 



X70 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

seeing him decently buried and putting a head board at 
the grave. 

While we were talking Colonel Kennett passed. 
*^ There is a gallant Cincinnatian,'* said John, " none did 
better service during our week of battles. Philip, did 
you know General Garfield had been appointed Chief of 
Staff in place of the gallant Garache. Ohio may indeed 
be proud of her sons ; they are as brave in battle as they 
are wise in council/' 



CHAPTER XX. 

CONTRABANDS IN CAMP. 

" \1 rONDER what de ginrel's arter now ; no good 'ill 

VV come on it/' growled a voice in the midst of the 
joyful clamor which greeted the announcement that we 
were to move at daylight on Christmas morning. 

^' What are you grumbling for, you piece of polished 
ebony ? think your skin in danger, do you ? I tell you 
what it is, if the rebels catch you they will broil you alive 
before your time comes ; move along ; see that the fire is 
kept up, and put some elbow grease on my musket. There 
will be precious little sleep in the Fourteenth Army Corps 
to-night, I can tell you." 

'^ Some on us 'ill sleep our last, I reckon. Plenty more 
days in de year to mobe b'sides dat on which our bressed 
Lord was born. Christmas good as Sunday anyhow, I 
guess. The ginrel's mighty pertickler to do nuffin on 
the Sabbef day, but de very best day ob all he makes dis 
whole army shuffle. No good 'ill come on it, see ef it do 
— dis nigger knows." 

Then as the echo of the cheers with which the news 
had been received reached him from the distant ridges, 
*' De men holler as ef dey was agwine to a dance. Yah, 
some ob dem dance t' nudder tune 'fore long." 

Ned dragged himself off, and was soon seen polishing 
his master's musket, mumbling to himself as he rubbed, 
and evidently ill at ease. 



172 CAP TAIN PHIL, 

^' What do de leftenant tink ob dis move, Captin 
Phil ? '* he inquired of me a few minutes later. 

" He likes it — is anxious to get ahead." 

" 'Twont do ; de debil's got a hand in it ; de Lord will 
smite us like de Philistines. I know'd somethin' was a 
gwine wrong" — an ominous shake of the head — "I 
dreampt ob crabs last night — sure sign ob ill luck." 

^^ Were they going backward?" I laughed, and he 
gave no answer. '^ What is your objection to to-morrow, 
Uncle Ned ? " . 

^^ 'J^^^ion ! I'd like to know ef all the Christians don't 
keep Christmas ? even niggers has a holiday den ; but de 
ginrel's a Catholic." 

*^ Catholics think as much of Christmas as any of us, 
but the general believes the movement necessary." 

"We'll see, we'll see," and still shaking his head he 
left me. 

A few hours later his face was radiant. The order to 
march had been countermanded. He rubbed his hands 
and laughed heartily at the disappointed men, who, 
irritated at his rejoicing, kicked at his shins in 
passing. 

" Press de Lord, you'se got dem dar feet to kick wid, 
and don't hab to tramp on dem to you're deaf t'-morrow ! 
I tought the ginrel hab more good sense and 'ligion, too; 
'new Father Trecy hab anyhow." 

" I tell you what 'tis, Captin Phil " — he joined me as 
I left the tent — ^^ I'se gwine to improve de 'casion. I'll 
gib de niggers sumthin' to think on t'-morrow ; dey'll 
show de whites ob dar eyes." 

" Are you to preach, Ned ?" 

" Yes, Captin Phil ; I's 'vited to gib a sermon in de 
woods ; de 'ristocracy 'mong de Union cuUud pussons is 
comin' from de city." 



CONTRABANDS IN CAMP. 1 73 

" That is the reason you were so anxious we should 
not move to-morrow ? " 

" No, sar. I didn't think you'd 'pune my motifs." He 
spoke with considerable dignity. '' De Ole Massa ob us 
all ub dar " — he took off his old ragged cap and pointed 
upward — " will hab His days kept. Dis army could 'spect 
no victory ef it move on de day he was born ; He Prince 
of Peace. Ef de niggers don't sing de Star ob Beflehem 
with loud hallayluyas dis Christmas den dey know nuffin. 
Yah, dey know de day ob jubilee hab come." 

With his thumb to his nose Ned walked off. 

While at Bowling Green the officers wanted a cook, and, 
recommended by one of the teamsters, Ned had offered, 
and was accepted by the mess. He accompanied us to 
Nashville, and while there requested that they would take 
his son as his substitute, as he wished to enter the service 
of an officer who needed a servant. 

He was about forty years of age, and had all the negro 
characteristics ; was shrewd, quick, cunning, very religious 
and superstitious. He had been a slave, and hated his 
former condition with an intensity I never saw any other 
negro display. A Methodist minister, he had great in- 
fluence among his people, was eloquent after his manner. 
Some of our men had heard him and pronounced him a 
*' great preacher." It was suspected that he wished to be 
near the officers to pick up all the information possible ; 
for he generally knew all that was going on. 

" Dandy Jim," also a servant, was envious of the notice 
taken of Ned, and in answer to John's question one day, 
as to whether the blacks did not think a great deal of 
him, said : " Yes, sir, the Southern niggers seem to set 
some value on him ; they can understand him. For my 
part I am not used to their kind of talk. I was brought 
up among Northern whites, and slave language is new to 



1 74 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

me ; I cannot say I am much edified by Brother Watson*s 
preaching." 

John laughed and said, when Jim got out of hearing : 
" Human nature is a queer thing, Phil. That is a well- 
educated, well-behaved, well-spoken mulatto, yet I do not 
believe there is a man in the company who has not more 
confidence in Ned ; perhaps it is that we feel the one is 
real, the other an imitation." 

Ned justified the liking all had for him. His son was 
murdered by the rebels, and it was touching to see him 
when he fo\md the body. One moment he would cry 
over the cold form, and the next — ^' Bress the Lord ! he 
hab died in a good cause — 'twas all he had, and de good 
Massa was — was — welcome to him." 

*' He died free, Ned," said one of the boys. 

^* Yes, massa, and in de battle for de free." This 
thought seemed to console him. He had great admira- 
tion for Colonel Moody, and often wished he was in his 
regiment. He called him ^' de Lord's Captin." I saw 
him on the battle-field helping the wounded, and one of 
the privates reported that he saw him raise a dying man 
in his arms and sing Canaan for him, the tears running 
down his cheeks the while. 

Ben was another of the ^' institution " who afforded me 
amusement. His face was round, polished as ebony 
and quite as black ; his body crowned with an im- 
mense head, covered with mixed black and white wool ; 
his eyes were quick and bright, his mouth like a cannon, 
filled with perfect rows of ivory teeth ; his nose flat and 
broad ; his figure short, stout and humped. He had long 
lean arms finished with hands like claws, while his bandy 
legs started from the center of his thin splay feet and 
rocked in their sockets, giving his body a rollicking mo- 
tion which made you instinctively make a move out of 



CONTRABANDS IN CAMP, 175 

his way when you met him. He was often around doing 
'' chores," but I never knew where he belonged, who hired 
him. or aught about him. 

*' Ole massa tell us Linkin's folks 
Are only poor white trash, 
Hate de nigger like de debil, 

And sell dem c 11 for cash ; 
But Sambo knows the proclamashun — 

Dis nigger's cute, you see ; 
It turn him almost white with joy 

To think he's gwine to be free. 
Git along, git along, git along, Josey." 

" What do you want to be free for ? " said Kiler, tak- 
ing his pipe from his mouth and lounging against a tree. 
^' You don't know when you are well off. Your master 
w^as good to you ; you had plenty to eat, drink and wear ; 
free people have to work as hard as any niggers, and look 
out for themselves when they are sick, too." 

"Yes, massa" — Ben thrust his tongue out and lolled 
his head from side to side — " ole massa was right good to 
us ; but we had to work if we wanted tu or no, come and 
go, agin it or not. Like your dog Pomp thar, you make 
him fetch and carry, lay down and git up, as you wants 
him tu, and you kick him, pull his years, and then you 
throw him bones, and pat him, jist as you likes ; but 
Pomp's afeard of you." Ben chuckled and shook his 
head. 

" Ef he's lying in the sun when you comes by he gits 
up and wags his tail, afeard you'll kick him. Pomp don't 
feel free ; he knows he's got a marster, and so does the 
niggers." 

" Free ! Nobody's free ; I am not free. I have to lie 
down and get up, tramp and halt, at the word of com- 
mand, like any nigger ; and if I don't I am shot 
or hung, and you are only whipped." 



176 CAP T Am PHIL. 

^' Yes, massa, but you chuse to be a soldger ; nigger 
don't chuse tu be slave. You mind little while, nigger 
mind all his life/* 

Kiler laughed. 

" How did you find out about the proclamation, Ben ? '* 

" You see, massa," — Ben was in his element, for he had 
quite an audience by this time — '^ when a body's own 
skin don't belong tu hisself, he's p'ticler about de chances 
ob getting it hurt ; niggers larn dis arly, and dey get 
wary and cute — always sleep wid one eye on de massa, 
and look stupid and act stupid when dey wide awake and 
har bristling." He paused to shake his head. " De massa 
will talk, and de niggers keep dar eyes shut and dar ears 
open. De women cuter dan de men, and dey hear all de 
talk in the house, and dey tell it in de cabin, and de nig- 
gers on one plantation tell it t' tudder, and it git all about, 
and we hab our sines and our s'ieties, and de niggers find 
out enuf ; dey no fools. De Lord bress you, when we 
hab de big meetin' and thare's anything tu tell, the 
preacher he gibs de nod and de wink, and de nigger 
understands." 

" Suppose you are found out ? " 

" Golly, massa, makes me creep all ober tu think ob it ! 
But we ar'n't often found out ; dose dat are de hottest tu 
git away, talk most agin Linkin ; and ob nights, when we 
know dat de feet dat makes no noise are round de cabin, 
dough we don't see 'em, we laughs at de cussed Yankees, 
and calls dem ^ poor white trash.' Yah ! " Ben's head 
went like a pendulum. 

'^ It's a good thing to be free. Anybody hit dis ole car- 
cass, Ben can hit back ; nobody got any right to hurt his 
skin but hisself. It's a mighty nice feelin'. I licked two 
niggers and a white boy when I know'd I was free, just 
tu feel I could." 



CONTRABANDS IN CAMP. 177 

*^ You are a scoundrel, Ben.'* 

'' May be, massa, but white folks make me so." 

" Why don't you fight for the Union ? " 

*^ Gwoine to, massa, when I can git a chance ; worked 
on the fortications at Nashville ; hear dar dat some ob de 
niggers in regiments fight like bars ; niggers no cowards 
ef dey are slaves. A nigger would hab sabed Hartsville, 
but de white captin tought him a fool, and wouldn't listen. 
He hear his marster on Saturday night tell his missus they 
gwoine to 'tack it next day. He had permission to go tu 
nudder plantation tu see his wife, but 'stead of gwoine he 
swum de river on a mighty cold night, when he like tu 
froze, and gave 'formation to our side, Morgan was 
a comin'; but dey laffed at him ; 'twas all he got for his 
trouble — guess dey laffed t'udder side 'fore mornin." 

*^ Some say you are a rebel spy, Ben." 

'^ Dey do ? What for spy for folks dat break my back 
and make me work all de same when I hab de mis'ry ? 
Wait till dis nigger gives dem 'formation, dey'll hear 
Gabriel blow his trumpet fust." 

'^ You told us a little while ago your master was good 
to you." 

" Some white folks don't know nuffin. Spy ! Ha, ha, 
ha ! I wants tu speak to de kernel ; " and Ben rolled 
himself off. 

One of the boys following the camp had a banjo, with 
which he sometimes enlivened a weary hour ; at the sound 
of it the negroes shuffled their feet and bobbed their 
heads intuitively ; the bodies of the black teamsters would 
wriggle instinctively in their seats in time to the tune. 

I had expected to find the slaves swarming like bees, 
and was astonished that so few of them were with the 
army. When I spoke of it, they said : " Dey hab been 
sent furder Souf to keep dem out of tro'ble." 
12 



178 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

Those with us were always laughing and joking, full of 
mimicry and odd sayings, and appeared to have no 
thought of to-morrow. 

I had often heard of a negro turning pale, and supposed 
it a figure of speech. While the battle was raging I had 
proof they could and did turn pale. When the right wing 
gave way, and the mob dashed among the cedars, several 
blacks near me stood their ground. One was almost of 
Egyptian darkness ; his hands trembled ; I saw his knees 
knock together ; while gradually his face became of the 
color of ashes. Another started to run, but afraid the 
guard would shoot him slipped between the animals 
drawing the wagon ; stooping low he was unobserved. 
When the cavalry of the enemy made one of its pounces 
on us his visage was streaked and of a leaden hue. 

'' Golly, massa," he said afterwards, with a long heavy 
breath, '' dis chile tought his time hab come when he saw 
old missus' son on dat big gray. You'se could hab heard 
dese ole jints crack as dey gib way and let me on my 
knees ; my teef strike t'gedder so I could not pray, I 
could only whisper, * Lord ! Lord ! ' Use see, it's one 
ting to be shot and killed like a white man, nat'ral like, 
and anudder to be murdered like a nigger." 

Here he caught sight of Jake, who had jammed himself 
in among a cluster of thick cedars, and, white with 
scratches and red with blood, was scrambling out. 

*^ Thar's that nigger now. He like Zacree ; he climb de 
tree, but not for tu see him Lord. Why, Jack, yuse better take 
car dat dar underbrush ; de sesh been a pepperin' dem 
bushes. Yuse all blood — ha, ha ! " 

There was a good looking man of about thirty who 
kept near the teams and seemed but little concerned with 
the fortunes of the day. The crashing of the balls among 
the trees, and the sulphurous air half stifling them, drove 



CONTRABANDS IN CAMP. 179 

the rabbits, of which the woods were full, out into the 
road, and made them so tame they were easily caught. 
He employed himself collecting numbers of these, which 
he killed and strung together, expecting to sell them to 
the officers and thus turn a penny after the battle was 
fought. Hiding them in a thick, dark spot of under- 
growth, where he felt sure they were out of harm's way, 
he straggled off in search of more. 

Hardly was he out of sight when one of the guard 
who had watched his movements appropriated the whole, 
and invited his comrades to a " game supper " when the 
day should be over. After a time the darkey returned 
with a turkey, some chickens and a half score more rab- 
bits on his back. He was grinning in delight. No sooner 
did he make his appearance than those who had seized 
his former haul attacked him with entreaties for a share. 

** No, massas, no," dodging first this way, then that, to 
keep out of their reach. ^^ I must see de color of your 
money fust ; dis chile b'lieves de officers will be hungry 
and hab a good ap'tite for de hot stew for supper when 
dis day's work is ober." 

He soon discovered that his ^^ plunder " was gone, but 
was wise enough to say nothing about it, although he 
looked very downcast. I think his second lot must have 
shared a like fate, for later in the day I saw one of the 
rebel cavalry galloping off with a string of small animals 
thrown over his saddle, wonderfully like that I had seen 
in Sambo's possession. 

They would have done him little good, however, for he 
was killed next day, without having derived any benefit 
from his acquisitions. 

Ben remarked, as he touched the body with his foot : 
** He tought hisself a mighty smart nigger, but he warn't 
smart enuf to git away from de bullits." 



l8o CAPTAIN PHIL. 

^^ We gwoine to be free,'* seemed to be the one thought 
of all the slaves I saw, both at Nashville and elsewhere. 
I had never been among them for any time before, and 
their drollery, queer talk, and singing had such a charm 
for me that when I met one I generally had something 
to say. They asked many questions, knew all about the 
^' proclamashun," and had the most extravagant ideas of 
the benefit they were to derive from it. 

I saw but two of them who appeared at all doubtful — 
one a broken down, desponding woman with two chil- 
dren, who wished she was ^^ wid ole missus ag'in on de 
plantation," and an old man who shook his head and 
'' didn't know." 

Jim, the boy who was killed at Murfreesboro*, had a 
beautiful voice. He sang ^* Ginger Blue " with great ex- 
pression, and would have been a star among the minstrels, 

*' De moon gwoine down, pitch dark de night, 
Cold, cold the dew am falling, 
I fear dis darkey see a sight 

Dat set him wool a-crawling. 
Who dar ! who dar ! a goblum cuss't ? 
Teak ! or dis minstrum's banjo bust ! 

'Peak ! and dy se'f unr-abb'l ; 
Teak, goblum, 'peak ! but whe'r'r or no, 
Dis minstrum drap his ole banjo 
And try a little trabb'l. 

Tro' de woods — cut along — 

Furder back, you boog a boo ! 

Tro' de woods — drap de song — 

Nimble chile ob Ginger Blue." 

Suiting the action to the word he ran off, and it was 
the last I saw of him. 

^^The fierce passion and fever of the battle," as John 
called it, over, the unhurt men, almost as exhausted as 
the wounded, were trying to get a little rest, when a 



CONTRABANDS IN CAMP, l8i 

negro man came to the spot where John, just off duty, 
had thrown himself after many hours' hard work, and 
with tears streaming down his face, said : '' Come, massa, 
do come and see a poor boy all de w^ay from Jarsey who's 
had bofe his hands took off." 

We went. Insensible from loss of blood, there, in the 
mud and rain, lay a lad of about sixteen or seventeen, 
with no hands, the same shell had taken them both ; one 
at the shoulder with the arm, the other at the wrist. His 
mother was far away, watching, waiting, blessing him, 
and he lying on the w^et earth dying, with only a poor 
negro to weep over him. 

"Sights like that, Phil," said John, after we had done 
all we could for him, " rouse all the bad in the soldier, 
and cursing the authors of the rebellion for the time, 
they want to take the vengeance which belongs to the 
Lord." 

The boy lived to be sent home, and I heard died there 
in the hospital. 

I was talking to Ben one day, and expressed my sur- 
prise at not seeing more runaway slaves. 

" Most ob dem sent Souf, massa ; and many niggers 
afeard ob being sent back ef dey git away afore Janevery. 
Den dar's de dogs ; white folks no idee ob de difficulties ; 
niggers know all 'bout it, and dey watched close as de 
skin, and de least 'spission and dey most skinned alibe." 
'^ How do they manage to get away from the dogs ? " 
" Dey take to de water ; dogs afeard ob de alligators." 
" But alligators eat men as well as dogs." 
"Yes, sar ; but when dar's a fire b'hind and a fire 
b'fore, de nigger looks tu see which is de biggest; he more 
afeard ob de dogs dan ob de alligators. Den ef he's easy 
in de joints he can git a tall cane and gib big jumps like 
a toad and fool de dogs, and put dem off de scent, so git 



1 82 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

time; while dog snuffin' 'round for de hole his heel make 
in de ground, he way off. Niggers Tarn a hard way, but 
dey know suffin'." 

*^ What is fetish, Ben, you are all so secret about ? " 
Ben looked carefully around before he spoke, lowering 
his voice almost to a whisper : 

^' I hab no fetish, Massa Phil ; no b'lieve in dat thar 
kind ob worship, nebber du no good. Dar's Cato, his 
fetish am a black snake ; he put him in his bed and git 
whipped 'cause he steal de milk he feed him wid.*' He 
suddenly stopped, and his voice sunk to the lowest 
whisper. ^' Here come Race ; he Congo nigger, and dey 
du say he make his fetish du drefful things tu niggers he 
hab a spite ag'in. I'd ruther talk tu you 'bout it some 
udder time, Massa Phil." Ben rolled himself off before 
Race got within hearing. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

IN CAMP AT MURFREESBORO'. 

THE army was settled in and around Murfreesboro', and 
the different commanders were engaged in patting 
things to rights again after the battle, which takes more 
time than people who stay at home know of. The dead 
must not only be buried, and the wounded sent into 
hospitals, or shipped off, but order and discipline must be 
restored ; companies and regiments looked after ; cannon, 
arms and accoutrements put in order ; measures taken to 
prevent any surprise, and fortifications built to strengthen 
the situation and prevent the possibility of a defeat, 
should there be an attack. In so crippled a state does a 
great battle always leave an army, even though it has 
been victorious. 

There was plenty to do and force enough to do it, so the 
days and wrecks passed quickly. Bragg, badly whipped, 
had fallen back to Tullahoma, a little town on a small 
creek, about thirty-five miles from Murfreesboro', and 
directly on the railroad between Nashville and Chatta- 
nooga. Our lines stretched to some five or seven miles 
beyond Murfreesboro', which was a pretty town, with wide 
streets and handsome houses, four or five churches, a 
college and a public square ; but it was peopled by sol- 
diers, not a citizen, woman or child was to be seen. All 
had run before, or after, Bragg. 

There were a few handsome houses in the country 
around. In one of these, about three miles from the town, 



1 84 CAP TAIN PHIL, 

on the Shelbyville turnpike, Generals McDowell and 
McCook had taken up their quarters, the owner having 
decamped, taking all his live stock with him. General 
Rosecrans was well housed in a mansion belonging to a 
rebel judge, also an absentee ; but there were neither so 
many nor such elegant residences in this region as I had 
expected to see. 

There was much work, some fun, and considerable 
restlessness, among the men ; during the w^inter they 
could hardly bide their time to move. While here, I got 
in the only serious trouble I had been into as yet. Some 
of '^ our company" were vexed that they had been caught 
foraging on their own account, and appropriating sheep 
not intended for them, which sheep had been seized and 
served upon the officers' tables. They determined upon 
revenge. There was about the camp one of the ugliest, 
dirtiest looking curs I ever saw — everybody threw at it, 
and everybody kicked it — it was always in the way. Two 
or three of them entrapped this dog ; took it to a thicket, 
killed, skinned, quartered and dressed it ; then managed 

to be caught by General , while conveying it to their 

quarters. Of course the mutton w^as confiscated, and it 
was eaten at General 's table. 

The fate of Mungo was whispered around, and when- 
ever General or any of his staff appeared in sight 

there w^ould be a whistling and barking, and the officers 
began to have an uncomfortable suspicion that the mutton 
on which they had dined might prove something else. 
One day John was quite sick, and was sleeping in the 

tent. I was sitting at the opening, and General 

passed ; almost involuntarily I whistled, then barked. 
He stopped, turned and fiercely demanded what I meant. 
I was so confused I could hardly answer, " I was only 
imitating a dog, sir." The general turned purple in the 



IN CAMP A T MURFREESBORO\ 1S5 

face, muttered something, and walked on. In a few- 
minutes a corporal appeared, who awoke John with the 
information that he was under arrest. John inquired 
" what for ? " He did not know, but thought it was for 
permitting his men to be disrespectful to his superior offi- 
cers. John was marched off to the general's quarters. 
He knew nothing of the matter, and stated that he did 
not. It was suggested that the officers had been sold ; the 
men would have their fun, and it was best to join in the 
laugh, so the matter was dropped. John reprimanded 
me for my share in the offense, but I could see he was 
not very angry. 

I often went out and spent the day with the pickets. 

One cold day I was out on the railroad with H and 

C ; we had built a fire, and stretched a blanket on 

two tall sticks to keep off the wind. C was giving 

me his experience in soldiering, when H , who was 

pacing back and forth on the track, his rifle on his 
shoulder, said : '' There comes some one well mounted." 
We moved from our shelter to see who it was. A man on 
a splendid brown mare was speeding from below rapidly 

in our direction. When within speaking distance, H 

halted him, and demanded his business. He wished to 

see General , and requested to be allowed to pass in. 

He wore a cap pulled low over his brow, and tightly over 
his ears, from under which locks of gray hair hung out. 
A woolen muffler was around his neck, and he had a 
large cloak well wrapped about him. While H hesi- 
tated, and his horse was curvetting and snorting in the 
frosty air, he turned it suddenly ; a gust of wind tore 
our blanket from the poles, and sent it in the animal's 
face. Affrighted, it reared and plunged ; the man's cap 
was blown from his head, and with it the gray wig he 
wore, disclosing a head of brown, curly hair. His 



1 86 CAP TAIN PHIL, 

endeavors to keep the cap in place tore the cloak away, 
and discovered around his body a belt well filled with 

pistols and a knife. With an exclamation H fired at 

him, but missed ; C followed suit ; but finding his cap 

gone, the rebel put spurs to his horse, throwing himself 
flat on his neck, and was soon out of sight. C de- 
clared he hit him, but we did not think so. I captured 

the blanket which had blown some distance, and C 

had a chase after the cap and wig ; the latter at last 
lodged on the end of a rail. We speculated as to who 
and what the man was, probably a spy ; he meant mis- 
chief at any rate ; we were unanimous as to his riding 
well. H , to console himself for not hitting him, in- 
sisted he did not keep his horse in a straight line for two 
leaps, but curved him in and out in scollops. 

I often went to the blacksmith's shop to see them shoe 
the cavalry horses, and hear the men talk ; I liked to 
hear of their dashes. General Rosecrans was increasing 
this force, and there were some quite young boys among 
them. The forge was set up under the trees ; and one 
day while I was there several officers sauntered up, and 
remarking upon the youthful looks of two new recruits, 
one of them said : 

" Our boys are the true heroes of this war. I have seen 
more proofs of courage, coolness, endurance, forbearance 
and determination among them, than ever fell to my lot 
to witness among the same number of men under the 
same circumstances. 

" There was Ben, the little drummer-boy of the T th ; 

his round apple head, rosy cheeks and curly hair, gained 
him the sobriquet Baby, and as * Baby Ben * the men 
knew him. No braver heart beat in man's bosom ; only 
twelve years of age, and not a great deal higher than his 
drum, he stepped forth like a general, with flashing eyes. 



IN CAMP A T MURFREESBORO\ 187 

quick breath, and eager hands ; his whole soul in the 
music. The very sight of him inspired us ; the most 
craven coward would have refused to fly in view of that 
gallant boy. He was with us at Pittsburg Landing ; rat, 
tat, tat, through the long and bloody hours, went his 
sticks ; he never faltered ; where the men were fighting 
hardest there he was beating "Hail Columbia'* with all 
his strength. " God bless that boy ! " I heard a hard 
pressed private say, a man who had slain his foe and 
drawn back to catch breath" and wipe his face with his 
sleeve. 

" * What are you doing here ? Put yourself out of 
danger,' said one coming on him as the enemy opened 
fire, and thrusting him back. 

" * It's my business to do the drumming and yours to do 
the fighting, and I am going to attend to mine,' was the 
sturdy little fellow's reply, as he took a bite of the cracker 
he had suspended by a string about his neck ; then stepped 
forward rattling away. 

" But * Baby Ben ' saw a bloodier field next day. When 
the wounded were searched for, he was found drenched 
to the skin, beside the remnants of his drum, it shattered 
by shot, with a wound in his side and two of his fingers 
gone. 

" Insensible from loss of blood, he was carried to the 
surgeon. He revived under the pain of probing, but not 
a word escaped him after the first groan. When it was 
over, his hand dressed, and he laid on his bed, he turned 
to me, who stood rear, and faintly whispered : 

" ' Didn't we beat them ? ' 

" ^ Yes, my boy.' 

" * Can't I never drum any more ? ' 

" When assured he might yet do so, he buried his head 
in the bed clothes and softly cried." 



1 88 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

*^ The day I got this " (the officer held up his arm in a 
sling) ^* a pale, slim lad, just from the hospital, staggered 
before me out of the ranks with ^ I am hit,' placing his 
hand on his side. I gave him one glance. Shot fell 
thick and fast, and we had no time to look after the 
wounded ; but the lad's face haunted me even in the 
din of battle, and then I was struck myself and fell with 
a ball through my thigh and my arm was broken. 

'* The tide of battle swept by and left me ; the ball 
through my side had only made a flesh wound and I 
managed with my right hand to wrap my handkerchief 
about it. I thought of that poor boy. I knew his mother. 
I dragged myself in the direction I had seen him fall. 
He lay a little aside from the path of the fight, his head 
on his arm. I called out, ^William, William;' he was 
not dead, had only fainted, and was reviving. I felt in 
my pocket for a small metal flask of brandy. It was 
there, and about half full. I wet his lips and forced 
some of it down his throat ; he sat up and spoke : 

" ' It is all over with me, captain ; are you hurt ? ' 

" * Only a broken arm and a flesh wound in my thigh. 
Come, you must not give up ; let us get back under cover 
of the bushes ; if the scoundrels should win the day they 
will bayonet us.' 

'' With much difficulty, assisted by what little aid I could 
render, he at length managed to gain a clump some 
distance off. The effort made my thigh bleed dreadfully, 
but I succeeded in clearing a space with my sword, and 
we lay down. 

'^ So exhausted were we that it was some time ere either 
of us spoke ; but at length with great effort he said : 

" ^ Do you think you will ever get home, captain ? ' 

"'I hope so.' 

'' 'Will you see my mother and tell her I tried to do my 



IN CAMP A T MURFREESBORO\ 189 

duty. I am young to die, and I did hope I should get 
safe through and go home and see them all ; but it's 
God's will. The ball is here ; ' he laid his hand upon 
his breast. ' It's killing me ! ' 

" His voice was very faint. I did all I could to reassure 
him, and promised, if spared, to see his loved ones at 
home, trying to cheer him, although I saw he was going 
fast. 

^^ ' Take a lock of my hair to mother, and give Mary my 
Bible ; ' he tried to take it from his breast ; I assisted 
him. ^ Jacob must have all my pay for his law studies — 
and — and — ' he paused, ^I should like them to give 
Bessie Watts my white rabbits/ 

** The sun set, night was coming on ; he dozed, then 
roused and said in stronger tones : 

^^ * I can hear their groans. Did you see that poor 
fellow by the road, who had lost both his legs, captain ? 
How I wish they would come and help you ; they can 
do me no good. Our boys are victorious, I know ; I saw 
them when I slept. They will be along presently, but it 
will be too late for me.' 

^^ So, not suffering much apparently, at intervals he 
talked and dozed. 

*' Some hours passed thus, then a mortal agony seized 
him ; his frame was convulsed with it. It began to rain. 
I could only press his hand in the dark and starless night 
and try to whisper peace and comfort. He murmured of 
his mother, Bessie, Mary ; was silent for a little, then 
spoke again : 

" * How good the rain feels — if I only had a drink from 
the spring under the beeches where they all came to bid 
me good-by. I am afraid I trouble you, captain. Be 
sure to tell them I tried to be a good soldier. It hurts 
me to speak, will you say the Lord's prayer for me t' 



1 90 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

" Resting on my well arm, with my mouth close to his 
ear, I repeated the blessed words, the pattering rain 
seeming as an accompaniment. He dozed again. I knew 
from the convulsive movements of his limbs that he 
suffered, but he spoke no more ; his hand grew cold 
within my clasp, and as the first faint streaks of day 
appeared he ceased to breathe. 

^^I slept from exhaustion. My men found me with the 
body of the boy stiff at my side, the rain silently falling 
on the living and the dead. Did any man ever die," 
asked the narrator, " a braver death than that ? " 

For a minute no one spoke ; then this officer patted 
me on the shoulder, as he rose from the wagon wheel 
where he had been sitting, and said : 

" Could you meet death like that, my lad ? " 

" I don't know, I could try." 

I went out several times with expeditions to seize 
horses. The rebels tried every way to keep them from 
us, but we generally managed to get a respectable num- 
ber. Once we found a beautiful horse up-stairs in a 
house, where it had been led when the alarm of our 
arrival in the neighborhood reached its mistress's ears. 
Hearing the neighing and pawing of our horses, it whin- 
nied and showed its head at the window, despite the 
efforts of the little negro who had been shut up with it to 
keep it quiet, but whose curiosity to see " Linkum's men " 
had made him for a moment disregard his charge. I did 
not wonder at the owner's anxiety to keep it, for it was a 
beautiful animal, high-spirited, yet gentle. 

There were several skirmishes with the enemy during 
this season, and some prisoners were brought in. Bragg 
was said to be now here, now there ; the last report was 
that he was at Horseshoe Mountain, strongly fortified. 
Early in June John, who had been made a captain for 



IN CAMP A T MURFREESBORO\ 191 

good conduct at Stone River, told me that preparations 
were going forward for a move of the whole army. Or- 
ders might be published any day. The roads were good, 
and our artillery and ammunition wagons could travel. 
All was business and bustle ; great piles of army rations 
— bread, sugar, coffee, and flour — were being shifted to 
the different corps for which they were intended, while 
hay and corn accumulated for the present use of the 
horses. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

MARCHING ON. 

AT last the welcome orders were published, and " for- 
ward ! bully ! " was the cry of the boys as, on the 24th 
of January, they left Murfreesboro' behind them, and 
started on the Manchester and Shelbyville pikes further 
into Tennessee. 

General Wilder's command took the Manchester road, 
and were soon heard from, driving the enemy like cattle 
through a hollow which runs for several miles between 
the hills, and is called Hoover's Gap. They were com- 
pletely scattered and whipped. There are several of 
these gaps or openings in the hills along this route, and 
the rebels generally posted themselves in them and dis- 
puted the passage with our men. 

While the infantry plodded their weary way, the cav- 
alry continued ahead and tore up railroad tracks and 
chased the enemy through the mountains. General 
Wilder's command were out over a week, and did not re- 
turn until driven to do so by hunger, although it rained 
all the time. I never saw a more wild, wan, miserable- 
looking set of men than they were when they came into 
camp, and dropped down anywhere to sleep. They 
looked more like brigands than troops, for their clothes 
were torn and dirty, their eyes heavy, and their hair 
matted. They had had Httle if anything to eat, for the 
mountains over which they had passed were uninhabited, 
rocky and bare, and they had failed to supply themselves 



MARCHING ON. 1 93 

with rations, while their only sleep had been taken in the 
saddle. 

So we kept on skirmishing every day. General Mc- 
Cook had a sharp encounter with the rebels, for I saw 
many wounded men going to the rear. The foe was en- 
trenched at Shelbyville, which our cavalry took after a 
brisk fight, much to the satisfaction of the citizens, who 
were almost all Union people. 

Advancing upon Tullahoma, we came to the "bar- 
rens " upon which it is situated, a soft, spongy soil, then 
soaked by the rain, in which we sunk at every step. 
There was joking and laughing as we proceeded, and some 
one called out the lines of a play I had often taken part 
in at home with the girls : 

'* We are marching forward to Quebec ; 
The drums are loudly beating ; " 

Only the drums did not beat. What is the next line ? 
The last is : 

** The British are retreating." 

" The rebs are following the example of their friends," 
said one coming up ; " the general has just heard they have 
skedaddled from Tullahoma." 

" They will have to frog it," called out another, " and 
jump from dry spot to dry spot." 

" Hurrah for the Fourth of July in Tullahoma ! " went 
up in a shout. We did occupy Tullahoma, and Bragg 
kept on his way to the Tennessee River. We followed 
him, when the general got ready, literally with our tents 
on our backs, over mountains and through gorges such 
as an army never passed through before. Starving and 
destitute people daily came into camp with horrible tales 
of the sufferings of Unionists in East Tennessee. They 
13 



194 CAP TAIN PHIL, 

warned the officers of the impassability of the road for an 
army. 

" Doctor, what is the matter with Hatch T said John, 
one morning, as he moved from an ambulance where he 
had placed one of his men, whom he had found stagger- 
ing in the road unable to keep up. 

^^ Home-sickness, captain, nothing more or less ; he is 
good for nothing and I have given him a certificate which 
will send him to hospital in the rear." 

^* But, doctor, he has fever, look at his eyes ; he eats 
very little, and is so weak he can scarcely stand." 

" Precisely, he can't stand, but it is home-sickness and 
naught else, a disease which the department will not 
believe in, but a disease nevertheless, and one which will 
give Hatch his ticket of leave in a month, if he is not 
treated accordingly. He scarcely speaks — never smiles — 
and only eats enough to sustain life, sits always with his 
head hanging on his breast, and his arms listlessly at his 
sides." 

*^He is a strange fellow." John answered. " At Stone 
River he was punished with extra duty almost every other 
day for reading when he should have been attending to 
other things, and kept himself so dirty that Lieutenant 
F had him taken to the river, his hair cut and comb- 
ed, and his body scrubbed with sand — it was not gently 
done, yet it did not improve him." 

" Just so, — he is no coward, but he wants what the com- 
mon people call ^ ambition,' and what we know as energy. 
He is of peculiar temperament ; let him go home 
for a short time and I warrant he comes out all right." 

Hatch was sent to Cincinnati to hospital, where he 
came near dying. At length he got a furlough to go 
home, and in a couple of months after joined us as well 
and bright as any one. 



MARCHING ON. ipS 

He had a confused and foolish look when he first re- 
turned, and the " boys " greeted him with : ^' How's mam- 
my, Hatch ? " "' Did you get enough pap, darling ? " " Hush 
a by baby." After awhile this chaff was dropped. 

The hot days of the last of July found the whole army 
congregated in and about Winchester and Tullahoma. 
General Rosecrans had his quarters at Winchester, in 
Mary Sharp's college. I had a day's ride with John over 
to Decherd, where General Thomas's Corps was; then up 
to Tullahoma to see General Johnston's division ; over to 
Manchester and Hillsboro, then back to Winchester, 
where General Jeff. C. Davis had command. At 
and between these points, and much higher up, the army 
lay. The men were in excellent spirits, joking at Bragg's 
run ; reports said most of his army had scattered about 
the country, that he was at Chattanooga fortifying, etc. In 
crossing the Tennessee he had burned the bridge at 
Bridgeport, which was said to be the finest in the country. 
But this would not delay us much, for when ready the 
boys said they should pontoon or walk the water. 

We were passing a field in which two negroes were at 
work ; they stood looking at us. One of them leaned his 
arms on the top of the hoe, and as two officers rode near 
began to sing : 

'' God made man, and man made de money, 
God made de bees, and de bees made de honey, 
God made de debil, and de debil made sin, 
God made de big hole and put de debil in." 

The negro's manner was peculiar. I heard one of the 
officers say : " He means something by that song," and spur 
up to him. A few moments after the officer rode ahead 
in a furious gallop and the men said he had information 
for the general. 

At length we were over the Tennessee, having crossed 



196 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

at four different places with little molestation, and taken 
several noted guerrillas in the skirmishes we had. We 
camped on the Georgia side, in the neighborhood of 
Trenton, where General Rosecrans had his headquarters. 

It was now the month of August, and Chattanooga, 
the rebel stronghold, was our destination. It was supposed 
that Bragg would make a resistance there, as he was well 
fortified. 

On the 20th General Wilder's cavalry reached the 
hills on the opposite side of the river from Chattanooga, 
and shelled it, burning some boats in the river, and doing 
other damage. The whole army was now moving rapidly 
up and soon the work began. It was reported that 
General Bragg had been removed, and that General Joe 
Johnston was now in command of the rebel force. 

There was some trouble one day about a misconception 
of orders in one of the regiments, and an officer in the 
regular service rode up, and, angry and excited, swore at 
the men, and made threatening gestures with his sword. 
This the independent volunteers would not stand, and 
they audibly muttered their discontent. " The Hessian,'* 
came through one man's closed teeth, " he's like a nigger 
driver." " He fights for the pay, it is his trade," said another; 
while a third spoke out : " We will duck him the first 
chance, like we did that regular who struck Jim Lane with 
his sword." They laughed at the recollection, and their 
good humor was restored. I noticed the difference between 
the appearance of the white people all along our route, 
and that of the same poor class I had seen at home. The 
Southern " poor whites " had clayey complexions, and 
mostly light hair, which hung uncombed about their faces. 
The men were generally tall, thin and stoop shouldered, 
looked as if they did not often laugh, and as if every move- 
ment was a trouble. I thought their stoop must come from 



MARCHING ON. 197 

bending over the fire, often necessary in that mountain 
country, or from their always sitting with their heads 
down watching their feet, as they shifted and worked 
them in the sand, which appeared to be their chief em- 
ployment. The women looked ignorant of the use of 
water, their hair hung in knotted strands, and their com- 
plexion and teeth were of the same hue as their gowns, 
which were of dingy yellow homespun. 

They were almost always obliged to take the " dip " 
from their mouths before they could answer a question, 
and many whom I saw here and elsewhere not only dipped 
but smoked and chewed. They raised a stalk of tobacco, 
if they could not raise anything else. I really think they 
considered it the " staff of life." They never hesitated to 
ask for it, and if they could get none would beg the 
soldier for a- few whiffs from his pipe, and put it wet from 
his lips into their own. These women swore, too, like 
troopers. Kiler said he thought there was swearing 
enough in the army, but he believed the Southern people 
had made a contract to do the swearing of all creation. 
And they were so ignorant. Out of a party of twenty- 
five refugees, who came in one day while I was at 

Gen. 's headquarters, all of whom were people over 

twenty, and one a man over seventy years old, but one 
of them, and that one a woman, could read and write. 

The negroes knew much more than they did. They 
were constantly inquiring the uses of the most common 
utensils. Some of them had never seen a coffee mill ; 
they pounded the berry when they had it ; yet they were, 
John told me, much above the average class of the in- 
habitants. The women and children had left their homes 
at night on foot, leaving horses, wagons and household 
goods behind them to divert suspicion ; and were joined 
by their husbands, who had been hiding in the mountains. 



198 Captain fhil. 

Traveling by day and hiding by night, nearly starving, 
they had tried to reach us and at last did. 

Early in September we took Chattanooga, having been 
manoeuvering around it for some time. It was done with- 
out a battle ; as the front of our army marched in, the 
rear of the rebel army galloped out. The day after it 
was taken Archbishop Purcell, who was on a visit to Gen- 
eral Rosecrans, celebrated high mass there. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

CHICKAMAUGA. 

" r^APTAIN," said Kiler, addressing John one morn- 
Vy ing as I was getting ready to go out to the signal 

station with S , '^ Phil knows and sees everything 

that is going on. I don't believe a bit of adventure 
could take place in this corps without his having some 
knowledge of it. He is everywhere.'' 

" I think he makes the most of his opportunities," said 
John, laughing, ^^ and it is well he does, for he will have 
very little recreation when this war is over. If he lives 
to get through, he has years of hard study before him." 

^' He can live upon what he has seen, and will have 
more to tell than any man among us. There is one thing 
I can say for you, Phil. You are obliging and brave, 
and that is why the men are always willing to have you 
along." 

My coffee w^as very hot, and almost scalded me. When 
I stopped coughing, I said : 

" Yes, but I shall be seventeen shortly, then I am in 
for it." 

" If that is the case," returned Kiler, " you had best 
take your pleasure while you can. You won't like being 
in harness You have had too much liberty. Nothing 
but the good of the country could make me come and go 
at the bidding of others." 

To tell the truth I was beginning to feel this myself. 
When we first joined the army John had the idea of my 



20O CAPTA IN PHIL. 

Studying some every day. He had given this up, and no 
longer kept so strict a watch over me. Although I knew 
all the time that I was under his eye, it did not trouble 
me, for I was always freer when with him than when he 
was not by. I read a good deal of any books I could 
get, and we talked much of what was in the papers we 
chanced to see. I always told him what I had seen and 
done through the day, and he explained our situation and 
movements to me. 

He let no opportunity slip of reminding me of my 
promise of study, and I retaliated by jogging his memory 
concerning his promise to let me join the army. But 
as the time drew near I began to have less desire to 
enter the ranks. I was now fully accoutred as a soldier, 
but went and came as I chose, or as John permitted, 
sheltered by his rank of captain. Should this privilege 
be cut off by orders I was prepared to enroll my name, 
but in the meantime was content to let things take their 
course. John, I knew, would never burden government 
with my expenses, be they great or small. 

I liked to go out to the signal stations with the corps 
when on duty. The highest point accessible w^as gener- 
ally selected for observation and for signaling to the dif- 
ferent wings of the army. If there was a tree on it so 
much the better. The tree was climbed, and, seated in 
its crotch, or on a secure limb, glass in hand, the officer in 
charge swept the horizon and scanned well all within his 
view. By means of the signal flags, which were Greek 
to all but those in the secret, others transmitted messages 
or orders, and others again took down observations or 
replies. Sometimes they were discovered by the enemy, 
and became a mark for the sharpshooters, which was not 
so pleasant. At night signals were made with torches or 
rockets. 



CHICK A MA UGA . 201 

While in this region I had an adventure of which I was , 
not a little proud. The general of our division wished 
information concerning a certain point. I heard some of 
the officers speak of it, and I told John I knew I could 
get the information wanted, begging him to let me try. 
He refused. The danger of being discovered was great, 
and if caught I would be killed outright. I insisted, and 
was backed by Kiler, who said John was trying to make 
a girl of me. As a last argument I told him I thought 
it mean to let me have all the advantage of being with 
the army, and when I could, not let me render a service. 
This touched him, as I knew it would. He listened to 
my plan, saw it was practicable, reluctantly consented, 
and took me to the general. The general approved, 
and gave me his orders. The next morning I was to 
start. 

That night I parted my hair, which had grown rather 
long, down the middle, and put it up in curl papers all 
round. I had been dreadfully sunburned, but my skin 
had blistered and peeled off, and was now white and 
clear. John and Kiler presided at my toilet in the morn- 
ing. Kiler had undertaken to procure the necessary 
garments, having written a list of what I needed. So a 
very short time saw me dressed as a girl, with hat and 
veil on. The character was not new to me, as my readers 
know ; for besides my representation in Virginia I had 
always personated the female in the plays of our Thes- 
pian Society at home. When my dressing was completed 
by hooking round my waist a homespun riding-skirt of 
butternut color, John smiled for the first time, and said, 
as he glanced at my face surrounded by curls under the 
veil : 

" I think you will pass, Phil, for on examination I should 
hardly know you." 



202 CAPTA IN PHIL. 

"Yes, he looks like a girl of about fifteen," said Kiler; 
*^ but mind, Phil, don't forget your r — r's when talking — 
no Yankeeisms — cry if needful, and do not stay a moment 
longer than is necessary.'* 

"Whar's the capting ? " I drawled in reply. 

" That will do ; go." 

With a last injunction from John to be cautious, I de- 
parted, a little tremulous at the danger I was to brave. 

In due time I reached the enemy's pickets and re- 
quested to be taken to an officer. The men put several 
questions and one of them was disposed to joke me. I 
insisted that I had business with an officer ; and after a 
short parley they proposed taking me to the nearest one. 
We were on our way, when riding towards us came a gen- 
eral, attended by his staff. He questioned the guard. I 
approached him and while he closely regarded me, and I 
felt the color come in my face and my voice tremble, I 
told my story. My father and only brother were in the 
army ; my mother was ill — supposed to be dying ; our 
" niggers " had run off, save one old woman now with my 
mother. I had heard that my father's regiment was here, 
and had come to see him. 

" What regiment is he in ? *' 

" The th Georgia ; Colonel B.'' 

" The company ? " 

*^ I don't know ; it is over a year since we heard from 
him, and there has been a change." 

The staff were all attentively regarding me ; I began to 
feel dreadfully nervous. One of them came a little nearer 
and questioned as to the locality where I lived ; this was 
getting in too deep water for me. The general, who had 
turned to speak to another officer, interrupted, and in an 
impatient tone said: 

"The th is not here, my girl." 



CHICK AM A VGA. 203 

I knew that well, for I had heard it from a prisoner I 
had questioned ; I began to sob and cry violently. 

" The house is in the hollow ; (sob) the Yanks took our 
last cow ; (sob) mother is sick ; (sob) I want to see 
father." (Sob, sob, sob.) 

From nervousness and excitement real tears came, and 
I took care they should see them. 

" There, don't cry ; we will see what we can do for 
you ; your father's regiment may come up." 

I whimpered : '^ I must return to my mother and would 
come back to-morrow." 

"Yes, do ; " evidently wanting to get rid of me. 

"Can't one of the officers go with me — the men 
crack jokes at me. I am afeard." I caught my breath 
at every word. There was a laugh, but the general said : 

"Captain, this is in your line, I believe ; " speaking to 
a young officer, looking very little older than myself. He 
sprung to his horse. I uttered my thanks behind my 
handkerchief and we rode off. 

My escort was very kind; he begged me to dry my tears, 
and assured me my father's regiment would be up with 
the reinforcements expected to-morrow. I began to be 
anxious for the success of my mission as I had accom- 
plished little so far, so I brightened up at this, rode slowly, 
and asked innocefit questions. 

" Is this all the camp ; I never had seen a camp 
before ? '* 

" Oh, no ; would you like to go round ? If you do not 
care for a mile or two, I will take you." 

" I am afeard mother will need me ; but then, I think 
I might go a little way." In my ignorance, I asked ques- 
tions which amused him greatly : What those men were 
at that place for ? Where those soldiers were going ? If 
this was all the army, etc. ? 



204 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

Proud of his superior knowledge, he enlightened me, 
dilating and giving me items I never dreamed of getting. 
At last, when about to part, he said : *' Miss Fanny, I 
shall look out for you to-morrow." Fanny was the name 
I had given him as mine. 

"But," I replied, "you told me you were going away ; 
I am so sorry." 

" Yes ; I over-heard the general say our division would 
swing round to-night, under cover of the darkness, but I 
shall manage to be here when you come to-morrow ; I am 
on General S 's staff." 

We bade each other a very tender good-by ; I had all 
I wanted. I looked back once or twice after we parted, 
and he kissed his hand to me in the distance. He was a 
gallant, and, no doubt, a brave youth, who thought it no 
harm to talk a little tenderly to a green girl. 

Tired with the effort I had made to keep up my char- 
acter, and to remember all I saw, I nevertheless rode hard 
until I reached the camp. The general was well pleased 
with what I had to tell him and thanked me cordially. 

While we were in and about Chattanooga, I paid visits 
to the springs around, several of which have stories or 
traditions connected with them ; for this was once the 
headquarters of the Cherokee Nation, who had possession 
of Georgia. I remember reading an account of John 
Wesley and his brother Charles, in their young days, 
coming to this country and preaching to the Indians at 
Savannah. I was in hopes I might find some relic of 
these people, but there was nothing to be had that 1 could 
get. 

The village itself is like a nest dropped among the 
mountains ; hence its name, Chattanooga, which means 
Hawk's Nest. Rossville, a little south of it, is named 
from the great chief, John Ross, who lived there, and 



' ' ^ , . 



> 



o 










SL_1 



CHICK AM A UGA, 205 

whose house was used by General Rosecrans for a hos- 
pital. Chattanooga is a pretty place, built on a point 
made by a sweep of the Tennessee River ; it has some 
nice gabled and flat-roofed houses, several bridges, 
churches, etc. The Southerners used to go there in great 
numbers, before the rebellion, to spend the Summer 
mont?is. The air is cool ; the scenery magnificent, and 
springs gush from the earth in all directions. Lookout 
Mountain, from the top of which there is a grand view of 
the country round as far as the eye can reach, is some 
two or three miles from the village. No wonder the 
rebels considered Chattanooga their stronghold ; it ap- 
peared to be almost a second Gibraltar ; they must have 
spent much time fortifying, for they had good works. 
Very few of the former inhabitants were left when it was 
occupied by our army ; they had done as we often did at 
home in our plays, ^^ followed their leader " and run. I 
often thought it would be a great pleasure to be once 
more in a place where there were plenty of women and 
children. 

The grave-yard at Chattanooga was crowded with rebel 
dead — each grave numbered ; cattle or sheep might have 
lain below for aught the numbers told to the contrary. It 
was from the hills opposite the town that General Wilder 
shelled it, paying his compliments to General Bragg in a 
manner so marked that the rebel leader, who did not want 
any *^ more grape " at that time, took French leave, and es- 
tablished himself across our path in the mountains. I never 
could understand why this manner of going was called 
" French leave," for I have always heard the French were 
the most polite people in the world. I suppose the rebels 
thought 

** He who fights and runs away. 
Will live to fight another day." 



2o6 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

At any rate they left. John always checks me when I say 
anything like this before him. He says there never were 
better fighters in the world than the Southerners ; that he 
is proud of them as Americans. They had a bad cause, 
and their education was worse. Imagine ourselves 
brought up under slavery, etc. 

Parts of the army had been coming up, divisions 
changing places, and other movements going on. John 
told me there would likely be a battle, for the enemy held 
all the gaps in Pigeon Mountain, and we must have them 
to go on our way. 

John had been so occupied I had not much talk with 
him. I was, myself, all the time back and forth between 
the village and the camps, which lay around and below it, 
on the Rossville and Lafayette roads. The enemy was 
close to us ; so close that in places the pickets could talk 
together. 

On the night of the i8th of September I was quite sick 
and restless. Generally I slept like a log — but that night I 
was conscious of a subdued movement in the camp, which 
half roused me in my wakeful moments. John was on 
duty, and was not with me all night. There had been 
heavy skirmishing that day. 

When morning dawned and I became wide awake, I 
thought some magician had been at work during the dark- 
ness in the night. The whole army had shifted. I did 
not know any of the men about me, and it was after some 
time, and only after I had made many inquiries, that I 
ascertained where our corps was. The men were too 
busy to attend to me ; they laughed at me ; " they did not 
know ;" they turned from me v/ith, ^* here's a little chap 
lost.'* One asked me if I did not want a bell on my 
neck ? another said ^^ba-ba." They thrust me back out 
of the way. 



CHICK AM A UGA. 207 

While I was yet in a maze and could scarcely under- 
stand the change that had been made, only knew that our 
part of the army was not there and another was, there 
came a terrible firing, and word passed that the enemy 
had opened on General Negley's division. In a fever now 
to find John, I went from point to point ; it was late in the 
evening when I came across the regiment. It had been 
in action, many were killed, but John was safe. How that 
day passed I cannot tell ; the battle raged and surged back 
and forth ; there were rumors that the enemy was beaten, 
— that we were beaten — that this regiment and that had 
been cut to pieces ; that prominent officers were killed, 
and still the fighting went on. In the midst of all the 
sun set — the night came — and the moon cold, pale and 
beautiful, lighted up the ghastly battle field of Dead Man's 
River, which is the meaning of the Indian word Chicka- 
mauga. 

** How is it, John ? " I said, as shivering I ate my 
cracker, for I had had nothing all day. 

''God only knows the end," was the reply, "it is not 
near over yet ; they will keep us out of Chattanooga if 
they possibly can, but," he said, after a pause, ''they 
cannot. Try and sleep, Phil, your teeth are chat- 
tering." 

The night was frosty, and I was cold and worn with 
fatigue and excitement. The earth was damp ; we had 
no fires and nothing warm ; I could not sleep. I lay with 
some poor fellow's knapsack under my head for a pillow, 
and an overcoat I had picked up over me, thinking and 
picturing what was going on. Muffled sounds were in the 
air, which was still sulphurous. I could hear the groans 
of the wounded lying near ; "water, water," would come 
from parched and dying lips, but we had no water. At 
length sleep overcame me, and I awoke with the sun 



208 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

shining in my face. It was Sunday ; again on that day 
were we surrounded with blood and carnage. 

My first thought was, General Rosecrans does not fight 
on Sunday, if he can help it. He could not help it, and 
we did fight. 

The enemy attacked us. Who can tell of the blood — 
the horror — the fright of that day ? Our regiments were 
mowed like grain ; as the ranks of one were thinned, 
another sprung to its place, and so the day went on. 
The rebels were fighting for Chattanooga, the hope 
of the would-be Confederacy. If they lost it they lost 
all. 

They fought like demons, rushing to the onslaught with 
a wild, unearthly yell, which made me put my fingers in 
my ears when I heard it. Almost double our number, 
they felt they must succeed. First a horseman came 
with the news that General Davis was routed ; followed 
by another, who told of disasters to Generals Van Cleve 
and Crittenden ; McCook's red battle-flag had gone 
down ; the right wing was beaten and had fallen back ; 
General Rosecrans was a prisoner. Those w^ho went 
to see came back with tales of disorganization ; the 
enemy was in Rossville ; the road was crowded with 
soldiers, cannon and wagons ; Generals McCook and 
Crittenden had lost their commands, but had escaped and 
fled to Chattanooga, etc. 

Later in the afternoon, report said that General Thomas 
had fallen back to Mission Ridge ; then came word of 
the fearful strife between his division and the rebels ; of 
the blood that flowed like water around and about his 
blue battle-flag ; of General Granger's aid. All felt the 
end had come. It did come. Night closed in, and we 
were not defeated ; we held Chattanooga. 

I slept well that night, although my bed was the side- 



CHICK A MA VGA . 209 

walk of a public street in that town ; but I had good 
company there. General Thomas's victory had been the 
last word brought us in the evening ; but we knew not 
what the morning had in store for us. Should we cross 
the Tennessee ? would they attack us again ? I heard 
the probabilities discussed as I went about with John, who 
was looking up the missing of his command. Men seemed 
in a maze ; one insisted General Rosecrans was a pris- 
oner, when we knew he was at Chattanooga, issuing 
orders. I heard an officer say, he did not dream of dis- 
aster ; that his division had driven the enemy back on 
their front after hard fighting, and he thought the whole 
army had done the same, when the cry came of a stam- 
pede to Chattanooga. 

As the hours wore on we found there was to be no 
retreat. General Thomas had saved the army. General 
Garfield had volunteered to carry to him news of the 
rout, which he did at great risk. This was the first inti- 
mation Thomas had of the disaster. John told me that, 
late in the afternoon, when General Thomas's host were 
the sorest pressed, though not yielding an inch, he gazed 
at the sun and thought of Joshua, and wished he had the 
power — not to make it stand still, but to make it go down. 
They were looking for reinforcements, and, like '' Sister 
Ann," watched for the "dust arising" that would tell 
help was near. Suddenly he saw at a distance the red, 
white and blue crescent shaped battle-flag of General 
Gordon Granger ; and, "Phil," said he, " I did as you 
sometimes do — I cried like a child, as I galloped over the 
ground with the news." I sprung into his arms and 
hugged him — my noble brother ! 

We had fallen back ; the enemy had possession of the 
battle ground, and some of our hospitals, with our dead, 
wounded and dying, were in their hands ; but we had 
14 



2IO CAPTAIN PHIL, 

Chattanooga, for the occupation of which they had shed 
so much blood. 

General Rosecrans had published his orders to fortify 
and stand by Chattanooga to the last, and great works 
sprung up, like mushrooms, in a night. In a couple of 
days we were impregnable. The fortifications, which the 
rebels had built with long months of toil, we had increased 
and strengthened, until they were a wall upon which they 
could dash themselves only to destruction. 

What wonderful tales men told of the fray ! I heard 
one say that his brigade had to yield their ground ; the 
hospital, with their wounded, was under fire ; the men 
took the poor sufferers upon their backs and carried them 
four miles out of reach of the shells. Others told how 
the colors of regiments had been saved by individual 
valor, when almost within the hands of the enemy. Books 
could be filled with accounts of acts of heroism and hair- 
breadth escapes made in those two days. I saw a man 
showing his watch, with an indentation in it made by a 
bullet, which, but for the watch, would have reached his 
heart ; another held up his foot, with the toe of his boot, 
sole and all, cut neatly and squarely off ; its being about 
half an inch too long saved him ; an Irishman, a good 
Catholic, took from the breast of his blouse a yellow and 
worn paper, with some faint writing on it — a prayer for 
deliverance from violent death, which his father had 
worn for thirty years, and which he truly believed 
had saved his life from the ball that went through his 
sleeve. 

Near noon, John came up to me and said : 

*^ Phil, Tom Murdoch was wounded, some say killed 
outright, on Saturday. I can find out nothing about him. 
I wish you would hunt up Captain James Murdoch, and 
see if he knows anything of his brother. Lytle was killed 



CHICK AM A UGA. 211 

yesterday ; they never shot a braver or more gallant gen- 
tleman." 

This was said in a husky tone, and he turned quickly 
away. Without a word I went in search of Captain 
James Murdoch, whom I knew to be tenderly attached to 
his brother. I did not find him, but was told he had 
heard of his brother's being wounded, and was looking 
for him. 

Captain Thomas Murdoch was a close friend of John ; 
we both loved him as a brother. He entered the army 
at the first call for men, and was at Bull Run ; afterwards 
was with General Benham in Western Virginia, as second 
lieutenant in the Thirteenth Ohio, and was in all the 
long marches with General Buell. He became first lieu- 
tenant, then was promoted to a captaincy for bravery at 
Stone River, where his horse was shot under him while 
acting as aid to General Van Cleve. He was my beau 
ideal of a soldier ; modest, brave, enthusiastic and chiv- 
alric. I heard one of the officers when speaking of him 
say he was a true soldier. All that we could hear of him 
was, that he was wounded on Saturday at the head of 
General Van Cleve's line of battle ; he had risen in his 
stirrups, and shouting to the men, '^ Come on, boys ! try 
them once more ! *' was shot while waving his cap. He 
was conveyed to our hospital at Crawfish Springs, and 
this hospital had fallen into the hands of the enemy ; 
afterwards we had the particulars of his death from one 
of our surgeons in charge of the wounded. He died, as 
he had lived, " one of the many full of hope and promise, 
who gave their lives that the country might live." 

Our loss was heavy. I knew of the fall of Colonel 
Jones, Captain Russell, Captain Paschell, and scores of 
other brave officers and privates ; but the rebel loss was 
greater than ours. The army of the West had whipped 



212 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

Longstreet's famous corps, who had come from Virginia 
to teach Bragg's men how to fight. Western men had set 
them a hard lesson and compelled them to learn it. I 
had heard of " little Johnny Clem " at Murfreesboro', 
but first saw him at Chickamauga ; he was in the midst of 
a group of officers who were making much of him. He 
had entered the army as drummer boy to the Twenty- 
second Michigan, when he was only ten years old ; he 
afterwards became marker to the regiment ; he was a little 
bit of a fellow, and a great pet among them ; had been 
with them about two years ; they said he never seemed to 
think of danger ; he had distinguished himself in Sunday's 
battle by killing a rebel colonel, who, seeing him using his 
gun, had called to him : 

^^ Stop, you little Yankee devil, or I will put a bullet 
through you." 

Johnny said nothing, but took deliberate aim and fired 
away ; the bullet went through the rebel's heart, and he 
tumbled from his horse dead. I should have liked to 
talk to him ; but 1 did not have an opportunity. After 
I saw him. General Rosecrans made him a sergeant for 
his bravery, and the ladies presented him with military 
accoutrements. He w^as from Newark, Ohio, and was 
the youngest soldier in the army. 

Another Michigan regiment also lost a drummer boy, 
or rather girl, in this battle. She was from New York, 
was eighteen or nineteen years of age, had joined at De- 
troit, and was with it in all that long and dreadful march 
made through Kentucky. She was also wounded in Sun- 
day's battle. 

When told she must die she sent a despatch to her 
mother, and died calmly shortly afterwards. 

The rebels were in a valley, and occupied both Lookout 
Mountain and Mission Ridge. They had thrown up 



CHICK A MA UGA . 213 

breastworks and had a battery on a ledge about half way 
up Lookout. The pickets of the two armies were so close 
they often talked to each other. From the top of Look- 
out six or seven States are visible, and one of the grandest 
sights to be seen anywhere lies spread before you. 

We had been fighting to keep Chattanooga, which is in 
the State of Tennessee, but the battle was fought in 
Georgia on West Chickamauga Creek, and on the ground 
lying between Rossville, Gordon's Mills and Crawfish 
Springs, extending almost to Pea-vine Creek. Rossville 
is but a half mile from the state line of Tennessee, and 
Crawfish Springs is eight miles from it. Our w^ounded 
were taken to Stephenson, Alabama, some thirty miles from 
Chattanooga. So the army was operating in three States 
at once, as John explained to me. 

When we were falling back. Private Flinn was told by 
some one to make tracks out of the State of Georgia. He 
stood still a moment, and shaking his finger in the direc- 
tion of Tunnel Hill said : *^ By Gorra ! just as sure as I 
can stand in one of your States, and have my feet in three 
of them at the same time, just as sure you will feel our 
grip again.*' 

Many boys of my age, and some older ones with whom 
I have talked, supposed that a line of battle means that 
the enemy's men and ours are drawn up in lines opposite 
each other, where they stand still, take aim and fire until 
one or the other gives way. 

This is not so ; the armies, of course, are opposing each 
other, but they usually take advantage of any slopes, hills 
or trees in their path ; they throw up breastworks of stones, 
earth or logs, posting themselves so as to be as little ex- 
posed as possible. Often, from the nature of the ground, 
and for better security, they lie down on their stomachs, 
and fire in that way ; when in ranks the front rank fires 



2 14 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

and falls to its knees, the second firing over their heads, 
and so on. 

Certain divisions also have particular points to hold, 
which they do as best they can. Then again the whole 
army is not always engaged at one time. Divisions are 
placed quite a distance apart, but near enough to come 
to the help of the others when ordered so to do, and there 
is a reserve corps to be relied on in extremity. 

Nothing is allowed to interfere with the range of the 
guns ; houses are burned, trees cut down and the whole 
country laid waste ; every obstacle must be removed that 
in the least obstructs the view. It was so about Chatta- 
nooga. The destruction of property was terrible. After a 
few hours' work, I have seen families who had been living 
in handsome houses with gardens and orchards, deprived 
of them and have nowhere to lay their heads. Scores of 
dwellings, many of them with ornamented grounds and 
handsome outbuildings, were thus cleared away, and the 
inmates had to seek for shelter where they could. Every- 
thing except what was needed for defense was swept from 
between us and the enemy. 

The harvest moon shone in the heavens, but I shuddered 
at it, for it brought to mind the cold, stiff forms that lay 
but a short distance from us, many of whose still white 
faces were upturned in its rays ; beloved forms that were 
bleached in the sun and whitened by the frost. Thoughts 
of them would come to me when I awoke in the night, and 
I would shiver, but not with the cold. The enemy would 
not let us bury our dead. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CHATTANOOGA. 

WE were strongly intrenched. Our fortifications on 
the enemy's side were three deep. Their guns 
commanded the town. Now and then they took a shot 
at us but did little damage. There was occasional skir- 
mishing between parties, and attacks were made upon our 
wagon-trains, in one of which the rebels killed the team- 
sters and burned about two hundred wagons. They 
would also pounce upon ambulances containing our 
wounded, but with these exceptions all was quiet. 

Squads of deserters would come in ; loyal men from 
East and Middle Tennessee, armed with old muskets or 
shot guns, kept in their homes to destroy wild game, gaunt 
and ragged, but resolute-looking, burning and eager for 
revenge, and longing for action. So the days went on, 
and towards the South, at least, we might consider our- 
selves in a state of siege. We bided our time, although 
rations began to be cut down. 

There were many, many missing ! How many lay in 
the Golgotha just outside us ? how many wounded and 
dying languished in rebel hospitals and prisons we did 
not know. Our surgeons and nurses, contrary to all the 
usages of war, had been kept as prisoners ; none had re- 
turned to tell the tale. 

Kiler had been shot in the leg. One day as I helped 
him to an easier position than the one he occupied, he 
said : ^^ I am afraid, Dick, Neff has gone, too — Jones says 



2 1 6 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

he saw him fall from his horse when he was shot, but he 
could not help him. I hope the ball killed him ; he would 
not bear being a prisoner. If he could not hit them with 
his arm he would with his tongue, and they would kill 
him. Poor fellow ! he was as generous as he was brave." 

As he was an officer, I was in hopes we should hear 
something of him ; but we did not. His body was after- 
wards found on the battle-field, recognized by the 
thoughtful care of his devoted mother in working his 
name on his stockings. It was conveyed to Cincinnati and 
buried among his friends. 

Chattanooga was a great hospital. The wounded were 
everywhere, and daily friends arrived to look up their 
loved ones, dead, wounded or missing. 

Among those who came on this errrand was Mr. James 
E. Murdoch, who hoped to get the body of Ins son, Capt. 
Thomas Murdoch, but he could not. The battle-ground 
was in possession of the enemy. While he was with 
the Army of the Cumberland, under the shadow of 
Lookout, with the whistling of balls for an acompani- 
ment, he read and recited patriotic poems to thousands 
of the soldiers gathered to hear him. He excited their en- 
thusiasm until they became almost wild. One day there 
was an unusually large assemblage. He had but begun 
his reading when the guns from the mountain opened, but 
he continued without interruption, for the balls whistled 
harmlessly over our heads, replied to by the huzzas and 
waving of caps that greeted the close of the poem. 

He was one of the many who, not firing a shot, did 
yeoman service for the cause, without which it would 
have failed. Surrendering himself to the work, he held 
himself ready, without money and without price, to give 
entertainment at the call of any Aid Society needing 
funds. 




MURDOCH RECITING TO THE SOLDIERS. 



CHATTANOOGA, 217 

We realized we were in a state of siege ; rations were 
short ; men got thin on small allowance ; and hundreds 
of mules and horses died daily. 

It was wonderful the love the loyal people had for the 
flag ; and what they endured to keep it. Women often 
begged me for my little one. A starving party came in one 
day and a woman drew a tattered bunting from under 
her clothes with the exclamation: '^ I swore they should 

never put their dirty hands on it." Col. J. , attracted 

by the cheers of the men who had witnessed the act, told 
the following incident : 

When marching to Chattanooga, the corps had reached 
a little wooded valley between the mountains. He, with 
others, rode ahead, and striking into a by-path, suddenly 
came upon a secluded little cabin surrounded by a patch 
of cultivated ground. At the door an old woman, eighty 
years of age, was supporting herself on a crutch. As 
they rode up she asked if they were '^ Yankees," and 
upon their replying that they were, she said : 

^' Have you got the Stars and Stripes with you ? My 
father fought the Tories in the Revolution, and my old 
eyes ache for a sight of the true flag before I die." 

To gratify her the colonel sent to have the colors 
brought that way. When they were unfurled and planted 
before her door, she passed her trembling hands over 
them and held them close to her eyes that she might 
view the stars once more. When the band gave her 
'' Yankee Doodle," and the ^' Star Spangled Banner," she 
sobbed like a child, as did her daughter, a woman of fifty, 
while her three little children gazed in wonder. 

They were Eastern people, who had gone to New Or- 
leans to try to improve their condition. Not being suc- 
cessful they had moved from place to place to better 
themselves, until finally they settled on this spot, tlie 



2 1 8 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

husband having taken several acres of land here for a 
debt. Then the war burst upon them ; the man fled to 
the mountains to avoid the conscription, and they knew 
not if he was dead or alive. They had managed to sup- 
port life, but were so retired they saw very few people. 
The younger woman expressed some fears that the rebels 
would discover this demonstration and kill them, when the 
elder replied : " Let them : we can go up to God as 
surely from the valley as they from the mountain tops." 

Leaving them part of their rations the men passed on. 

It was about the i8th or 19th of October that General 
Rosecrans left the Army of the Cumberland. The De- 
partments of Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee, had been 
made into one under the name of the " Military Division 
of the Mississippi," and General Grant was appointed 
commander of the division. General Thomas became 
commander of the Army of the Cumberland, under 
General Grant, and vowed he would hold Chattanooga 
if we starved. 

One of our signal stations was at Cameron's Hill. The 
point from which observations were taken was a crotch 
in a tall tree, reached by a ladder. I was sent there one 
day with a message to an officer, and he kindly allowed 
me to take a trip up the ladder and have a look through 
his glass. It was a clear day, and nothing could be more 
beautiful than the view. The town of Chattanooga was 
before me, its streets filled with our soldiers, their white 
tents dotting all the open spaces ; army wagons, and peo- 
ple on horseback and on foot were hurrying across the 
various bridges, companies were exercising or parading 
on the commons, tents covered the suburbs, looking like 
villages of canvas interspersed with trees, and having 
here and there a house. These stretched away to the 
deep dark woods, behind which the rebel camp was plainly 



CHATTANOOGA. 219 

visible. The smoke of its fires hung like a thin cloud 
against the range of somber mountains in the back- 
ground, while all around were lofty, rocky peaks, and 
about the whole the Spoon River (the Tennessee), wound 
in and out, in and out, like the coiling of a great silver 
serpent. 

Going back we met a party of deserters from Bragg's 
army, under guard. One of them called out : 

^^ Lookee, you powder monkey, you came near spoiling 
my mug the other day. I am glad you missed me, for I 
should have hated mightily to have had to come down to 
such a morsel." 

I made no reply, but the corporal said : 

" So, you spotted him, did you, Captain Phil ? I 
heard you had been doing a little fighting in the battle 
on your own account ; there was enough of him to hit." 

I was mortified, for the man was six feet tall and very 
broad-shouldered. 

The latter part of October, General Hazen's brigade 
with some hard fighting opened the river from Bridge- 
port to Brown's Landing, making a way for our supplies 
to come by water. The rebels were taken by surprise 
and ran. The river was cleared, a bridge and steamboat 
built, and the rations, which had been hauled overland by 
wagons, were now delivered by water to within two miles 
of the town, and all once more had enough. The first 
boat was built by Michigan men, and called the Chatta- 
nooga, a set-off to the locomotive built by Massachusetts 
men in the early part of the war* 

General Hooker had a sharp fight about this time for 
Lookout Valley, but the mules did him nearly as good 
service as any of his regiments, and such as mules never 
did before. The armies were sleeping after the day's 
strife, when suddenly, from some cause or other, the 



220 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

mules became alarmed. The alarm spread, and they 
dashed forward like frightened sheep right in the face of 
the enemy's pickets, who, mistaking them for a cavalry 
force, fired and ran back to a brigade not far from them, 
screeching, ^' Hooker's cavalry is on us." Awakened 
from their sleep by the sound of musketry and gallop- 
ing hoofs, the rebels supposed they were surprised and 
surrounded, and took to their heels, leaving everything 
behind them. 

Our men, recovering from the confusion of the accident, 
demanded to know what was the matter ; they were in- 
formed by the astonished teamsters, with the addition that 
they believed the mules were possessed of devils. They 
set off in pursuit, and not only returned with their own 
property, but had them loaded with knapsacks, blankets, 
and rifles, abandoned by the enemy. The rifles proved 
to be Enfield, and were nearly one thousand in number. 
Another accident occurred here, which also caused much 
merriment. The boys were fighting their way up a ridge. 
At the foot of a steep hill a regiment stood in file ready 
to fall in when ordered. A negro, who was above, became 
exceedingly terrified at the firing, and in trying to dodge 
a cannon ball, lost his balance, and doubling up rolled 
down the steep declivity, separating the ranks, and knock- 
ing a man out of each in his passage. The men saw him 
coming, and in the uncertain light thought he was a shell. 
When Sambo reached a level spot he stopped, and jump- 
ing up'shook himself, felt first his shins, then his head, 
and much to the chagrin of those he had hurt, and the 
amusement of those he had not, said, in great per- 
plexity : 

*^ Golly, massa, dis nigger tought him was killed." 
There was soon to be another battle. This was evident 
from the movements going on. I questioned John, and he 



CHATTANOOGA. 221 

told me he thought there would be an attempt to wrest 
Lookout Mountain from the enemy when Sherman, who 
was on his way to Chattanooga with all his force, should 
come up. Troops were changing position, and wagons were 
hauling great loads of timber up the river, in which direc- 
tion none but soldiers were allowed to go, but no one 
knew anything. If you asked what was going on, the 
answer was sure to be, " I don't know." 

On the 19th of November, some of General Sherman's 
command came in " the boys " said, and going up the 
valley camped at the foot of Walden's Ridge. That 
night orders were published that each man should supply 
himself with two days' provisions, and one hundred 
rounds of cartridges. " ' Unconditional ' was going to 
take a pop at them, that was certain," said the men. 
There was joy in the prospect, which was changed to some 
grumbling on Saturday morning, when it was found these 
orders had been countermanded in the night. The rumor 
that there was going to be a battle had got abroad among 
the people, however, for when the mists arose from the 
hills around the city, they were seen to be dotted all 
over with persons who had come out to see the show. It 
reminded me of Bull Run. 

John told me privately that the postponement was on ac- 
count of General Sherman not having arrived ; that there 
was to be a general battle, in which he would take an im- 
portant part ; that the bulk of his army was then on the 
road between us and Bridgeport. The commanders were 
doing everything to mask their movements from the foe, 
as they wished to take them by surprise. 

The grumbling and wondering went on, helped by the 
weather, for on Saturday morning when we got up we 
found it raining. It rained all day until evening. Then 
the spirits of the men rose, we would be sure to be up 



222 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

and at them on the morrow ; somehow our best fighting 
had always been done on Sunday. 

Sunday passed and there was no battle, and no sermon 
from the ''' devil's pulpit," as the men called a heap of 
rocks up Lookout, from near which they were sometimes 
shelled. Kiler, who had caught the rumor of the ex- 
pected engagement, and was as. cross as man could be, 
worrying on his mattress, asked me to tell John to come 
and see him. John had put him, in a manner, in my 
charge, and did various little things for him. 

^^ So, captain, we are to have a fight," he said to John, 
as we stepped in to see him, Sunday evening. 

'' The boys seem to think so," was John's reply. 

" Humph ! and here I am, tied like a dog to a stake ; I 
would not care if it was a great wound, or if I was in 
great pain, but to be kept here for such a trifle as this." 

" A bullet through your leg is not considered a very 
small thing/* said John, and he tried to reason with him ; 
Kiler would not listen. 

" Come," he said, impatiently, "' stop preaching and sing 
for me ; if ever a man was cut out for a parson you are." 

John sang several hymns. When he arose to go, and 
stood by Kiler shaking hands, Kiler drew him towards 
him, as though he had something to say, and kissed him. 
It sent a pang sharp as a knife through me, for I knew he 
was thinking of the morrow, and the probabilities of see- 
ing John again. He only said : 

^^ Give them Hail Columbia, captain." 

He was a queer fellow. His brother had entered the 
army, was made prisoner, escaped, was chased by blood- 
hounds, retaken, and died in prison. They were the only 
children of rich parents. After his brother's death, he 
joined the regiment as a private, to avenge him, he said. 
He had been wounded in the last battle, and was nearly 



CHATTANOOGA. 223 

well, but had caught cold, and his wound had became in- 
flamed. When in action he fought like a hero. He re- 
fused to be sent home, preferring to stay near the army to 
being where he could have every comfort and luxury. 
He spent his time writting letters to his mother, ofttimes 
in rhyme, and almost always illustrated with the funniest 
and most grotesque drawings imaginable. 

Monday the 23d was bright and clear ; the enemy's guns 
and ours exchanged the compliments of the day, no un- 
usual thing ; indeed Moccasin Point and Lookout were 
constant in such little attentions to each other, keeping 
up a cross-fire over the Tennessee. 

That something was about to take place was evident, 
when, near twelve o'clock, brigades with drums playing, 
and banners flying, arms brightened until they shone like 
silver, and every man in his best array, marched out and 
took possession of the open ground between the river and 
the railroad right below Fort Wood. Again it reminded 
me of the display at Bull Run. The heights around 
were crowded with people, as they had been the day 
before. 

It was a reconnoissance, they said, and they watched 
the movements of the brigades as they fell into line of 
battle, or turned off into the woods, with intense interest. 
The enemy watched also, not expecting an attack, think- 
ing we were having a review ; but when night came, and 
the reconnoissance was over for the day, they found this 
review had cost them their first line of entrenchments. 
Our men, exultant in their success, had thrown themselves 
down to rest, ready to be up and doing at the first tap of 
the drum. John told me, that night, that it would be a 
great struggle, and explained somewhat how he thought 
the different points would be attacked. 

It was late when I awoke on Tuesday morning, Novem- 



224 CAP TAIN PHIL, 

ber 24th. All was bustle and expectation ; the army was 
in motion and, I was told, had been since two o'clock. 
Sherman's men had arrived. Rebel pickets had already, 
been driven from the bank of the river by a force that 
h id come down it, and we were now entrenched on ground 
but a little while since held by the foe. I could not tell 
where all the men had come from ; they were crossing the 
river, swarming in the boats ; lining the shore. There 
was no longer silence or secrecy ; cannon bristled all 
along the banks of the Tennessee, drums beat, and flags 
flapped in the morning breeze. 

Our forces were between Lookout and Mission Ridge, 
and General Hooker was storming the mountain. Never 
was there such a scene ; the men fought right up the steep 
sides, ridge by ridge, of times holding to crag and bush, 
with the fire from the enemy directly in their faces ; they 
never flinched nor wavered ; General Geary on one side, 
and General Hooker on the other, meeting on the top. 
The dead fell in their paths ; they rushed over the bodies, 
following the colors, which kept ahead. The roar of mus- 
ketry and cannon, reverberating from the mountains round, 
was almost deafening, and with it could be heard the yells 
of the rebels and the shouts of our men. One moment 
the smoke hung low and hid them in a pall ; the next it 
melted away and you saw them struggling, as though it 
were in mid-air, fighting upon points and ledges, or hurling 
each other into space. 

It began to rain, and night came on ; breathless the 
army and the people watched Lookout. It grew dark, 
darker — the mountain loomed like a great giant black in 
the night ; the flash of musketry, the explosion of shells, 
the lightning of the cannon revealed the forces fighting 
amid the clouds and the darkness. I could but think of 
•Paradise Lost and the battle with Satan, the description of 



CHATTANOOGA. 22^ 

which we used to parse in school. It might have been 
his expulsion from Heaven. 

We marked General Hooker's course by the fires kindled 
by our men, as they, gained the ridges. We in the valley 
shouted and cheered, as fire after fire told they were reach- 
ing upward. Unmindful of weather or darkness they kept 
on, climbing, as they fought, great heaps of rocks, that 
jutted in their path at almost every step, and at length 
they gained the summit. 

It was past midnight when they lay down, conquerors 
of Lookout, with our army stretching almost to the foot 
of Mission Ridge. 

I was weary enough that night, and slept heavily and 
late, forgetting all about Kiler, whom I had promised to 
see, and to tell of the progress of the battle. In the morn- 
ing I was awakened by the most terrific shouting and hal- 
looing. 

'^ What is it ? " I said, rubbing my eyes sleepily. 

'^ Look there ! Look there ! " said one, seizing my arm 
with the grip of a vice, and swinging me round with a 
jerk that sent me spinning, at the same time pointing to 
the mountain. 

From that huge fan-shaped group of rocks that crested 
Lookout, the Stars and Stripes, borne on the wind, stood 
straight out, flaunting in the face of General Bragg, as he 
gazed at it from his headquarters on Mission Ridge. 

It had been placed there by the ofiicers of the Eighth 
Kentucky. A moment before I had shivered with the 
cold, but I was hot and strong at that sight ; and, dart- 
ing for my little flag, I seized and waved it, hallooing and 
shouting as loud as the best. 

The roar of battle from the direction of Tunnel 
Hill told that General Sherman had begun to fight for 
possession of Mission Ridge ; hour by hour it continued. 
IS 



226 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

The crest of Mission Ridge was crowded with rebel sol- 
diers, a living mass ; presently they rushed upon our 
force, and the cry came that our boys were running. 

A breathing spell, then there came a movement near 
our center ; the troops there were seen to rush forward 
into the woods, behind which were the enemy's lines of 
rifle pits protecting the ascent of the mountains. These 
pits our men were ordered to take. Like a torrent, bear- 
ing everything before it, they swept on ; then there was a 
dash, a crash, — the rebels were seen to run ; the rifle-pits 
were ours ; cheers and shouts, caps in the air, and frantic 
exclamations told the tale. 

A few minutes more, and up the Ridge, from which 
blazed the enemy's guns, sending showers of balls in their 
faces, with shouts of defiance for the foe, and cheers of 
encouragement for each other, the men rushed. — Breath- 
lessly they were watched ; up, up, and on they toiled, 
Sheridan in their ranks. One moment they were hidden 
in smoke, belching forth in the midst of which came the 
roar and flash of the cannon, as though the mountains 
had rent and opened upon them. Still they kept on, till 
hot and breathless they reached the top, charging the 
amazed foe, who turned and fled by hundreds, throwing 
down their arms. 

General Baird's division still fought on the left, seeing 
which, the boys turned the captured cannon on the rebels 
and gave it to them with their own guns. The day was 
ours. From Fort Hindman, where the rebel flag had 
floated a little while before, the Stars and Stripes were 
now seen. Our troops had been ordered to take the 
rifle-pits, and they had taken the Ridge. 

The Graybacks were in full retreat. *^ Chickamauga, 
Chickamauga ! " had rung like a trumpet call along the 
lines. One little fellow, but a boy, belonging to the Sixth 



CHATTANOOGA. 227 

Ohio, made it tell. He captured a rebel captain, who very 
naturally refused to go to the rear at the bidding of so 
small a soldier, whereupon the little patriot thrust him up 
to the breastworks, and, giving him a kick behind which 
sent him head-long down the hill, shouted, '' Chickamauga, 
hang you." 

As night cam^e on and one portion of the army learned 
what the other had done, shouts filled the air. The attack 
had been made in six different places. Of course, I can 
but feebly describe the one I saw and watched. There 
were so many prisoners, we scarce knew what to do with 
them, officers and men ; and for trophies, besides flags 
we had arms and artillery in abundance. 

Thursday morning showed the foe had fled from Tun- 
nel Hill, which was all of the mountain ridge the last 
night's fight had left him, and was in full retreat, a line of 
smoke marking his course, and telling the means taken to 
retard pursuit. 

The army rejoiced over what it had done. Men praised 
each other's deeds, but all praised the gallant color bear- 
ers of the storming regiments, who had mounted the 
ridges ahead of their comrades, challenging them to fol- 
low, while they planted the banner in the midst of the foe. 

John told me he heard a gentleman belonging to the 
Christian Commission tell our general that while the 
troops were shouting at the sight of their standard on 
Mission Ridge, he met some soldiers carrying another in 
a blanket, and asked who they had there ? 

They replied : " Our color-sergeant." 

He requested them to stop a moment, and stooped 
down and said : 

" Sergeant, where did they shoot you ? " 

" Most up the ridge, sir," was the reply. 

** I mean where did the ball strike you ? '* 



228 CAPTAIN PHll, 

"Within twenty yards of the top — almost up," he 
answered. 

His thoughts were all on his flag, he had no word for 
himself or his suffering. 

" I mean in what part of your body are you wounded ? " 

The gentleman removed the blanket and saw his arm 
torn away, the bone of his shoulder in fragments, and 
the flesh hanging in shreds. 

The poor fellow gave one look towards it. 

" That's what did it. I was hugging the standard 
close, was almost up at the top, when the shell knocked 
me over ; two minutes more, and I would have planted 
the colors on the top. — If they had only let me alone a 
little while longer — I was almost up, almost up ; " and with 
failing breath he repeated, " almost up ; almost up ; " 
until his eye was glazed and his voice gone. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

AT CHATTANOOGA — IN WINTER QUARTERS. 

WE were in winter quarters, " accumulating supplies '* 
those who knew said, for a great campaign farther 
south in the spring. Things were dreadfully dull ; a little 
skirmishing now and then was the only break in the 
monotony of camp life. The enemy^ now commanded by 
Hardee, had fallen back to Dalton. We were fortified 
and considered impregnable in our nest. 

Christmas was again passed in camp. There was some 
fun going on ; many received boxes and other tokens from 
home, and were cheered by letters and presents. To 
others it was a sad season. 

I had never seen General Grant. One cold morning I 
saw an officer standing near some of the fortifications in 
conversation with several others ; he was a short and not 
a stout person, with '* pepper and salt " hair, little sharp 
bright eyes, and a closely cut beard. He wore a slouched 
hat, crushed down on his forehead, and a coat somewhat 
the worse for vrear. I had often seen him going back and 
forth, generally in the company of other officers, and had 
particularly noticed his little sharp eyes, and that he was 
always smoking a cigar. I twice passed the group and 
had stopped near it once for several minutes when I saw 
him take a glass from one of the officers, and heard him 
addressed as general. John approaching me said : 
^^ Phil, that is General Grant." 



230 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

" Where ? " I turned, looking right and left and all around 
me. 

" There, immediately before you. Why," seeing I was 
still staring around, ** you were just looking at him." There 
were many officers near and as yet I did not distinguish 
him. 

" See," John turned me by the shoulder, ^^ the middle one 
in that group ; he is now knocking the ashes off his cigar 
against the tree." 

It could not be possible that the plain looking officer, 
with slouchy air, who was always smoking, and who, some 
how, I had set down as a poor officer with a large family 
at home of whom he was always thinking, was General 
Grant. I said so to John. 

He laughed. " Why, Phil, I thought you had been 
long enough in the army not to judge a man by his dress, 
and surroundings. Clean collars are not found on trees, 
and service like ours is likely to take the gloss from a 
uniform." 

*^ That is not it, John," I said testily, provoked at my want 
of discernment. '^ The general looks well enough but " — 

^' Yes, well enough for a working general, but you ex- 
pected more fuss and feathers." 

^' Well, I did," I said laughing, '^ but I should have known 
better. I forgot the descriptions we have had of him at 
Vicksburg." 

I kept in the neighborhood of the general after this, but 
at a respectful distance. I wanted to watch him. John 
told Kiler, who was about now, of my stupidity, and my 
remark, and he, saying he owedm.e one for forgetting him 
during the last battle, told it to several others. I was 
much annoyed at their calling out after me, whenever 
the general came in sight : " Hurry, Captain Phil, hurry, 
here comes the poor officer with the large family." 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS, 231 

*^ Faix, and it's he has a large family, Captain Phil, and 
I hope he'll be after looking after them better than the 
aula soul who lived in a shoe ; by jabers she only gave 
them a blistering and sint them to bed. Arrah and the 
army's his family 10 be sure," said Patrick. 

Returning from Bridgeport in the cars one mild day 
with John, we chanced upon a party aboard, most of 
whom John knew, who were going to stop at Shellmound 
in order to visit Nick-0-J?ck cave, which is situated at 
the foot of Raccoon Mountain, some fifteen miles from 
Chattanooga. I begged John to let me accompany them, 
and, as the gentlemen had no objection, he consented. 

We stopped at Shellmound station, and piloted by one 
of the party who had been there before, after a walk of 
nearly a mile reached the entrance. This was a broad 
chasm extending half way up the straight face of a cliff 
some seventy or eighty feet high, with shrubs and saplings 
growing from the crevices and large trees on top. The 
opening or mouth was nearly one hundred feet across. A 
little river, about thirty feet wide, issued from one side of 
this aperture and directly under the opening widened into 
a basin ; a small boat, upside down and bottomless, lay half 
out of the water on the bank. Formerly the only way of 
getting in and out of this cave was in a boat on this river. 
I stooped down, and scooping up some of the water in my 
hand tasted it ; it was anything but pleasant and was of a 
green color. I must confess I had some tremors about 
going in ; it looked like trespassing on the dominions of 
the prince of darkness. The gentlemen had beguiled the 
way since we left Shellmound talking of the cave, and had 
told wonderful stories of its having been a hiding place for 
robbers. The question arose might it not now hide rebels ? 
The mouth of the cave was in our possession in Alabama, 
but its extent was in Georgia. It had been explored some 



232 CAPTA IN PHIL. 

six or seven miles, and there might be an outlet in that 
direction which the traitors knew and used ; however I 
said nothing, but followed the lead. 

We entered by the road made on the left by the salt- 
petre makers, the river being on the right. The front 
part of the cave was cumbered with old timbers, hollow 
logs, and iron kettles. I stumbled over rocks and dirt, 
up and down, following the line of tubs, which were fixed 
along the wall, one above the other, two and three high, 
to catch the drippings from which the saltpetre was pro- 
cured. It was not all one space, but there were apart- 
ments, some large, others small, with beautiful smooth 
sides and roofs ; the farther we went in, the more wonder- 
ful it was. There were shining crystals like icicles hang- 
ing from regular arches over our heads ; and beside and 
around us the dark sullen-looking river kept on its way 
in the channel it had wrought for itself, telling no tales. 

We spent several hours within it, poking into the leach 
tubs, examining the logs and other articles used by the 
rebels in their saltpetre making, after we had satisfied our 
curiosity concerning the cave itself. 

I sat down on a rock, or on the edge of a tub. While 
waiting I threw the clay out with a stick, or tried to break 
off stalactites, or cast stones into the river to sound its 
depth, and threw the light from my pine-knot down 
into it ; I listened to the gentlemen talking, mostly of the 
war, each telling some experience he had gone through. 
Then they made an estimate of the value of the cave, its 
future uses, what might be made from it — at least while 
the war lasted, and pointed out the great loss it was to 
the foe, etc. 

Once more we were out in the daylight, and glad was I 
that I had said nothing of my fears. We looked around 
us for a few minutes ; then were ready for something to 



AT CHATTAXOOGA—IX WINTER QUARTERS. 233 

eat, and, after that, being desirous to take the first train 
for Chattanooga, we hastened back to SheUmound. 

I never ceased wondering at the ^' common people " of 
the South, " the poor white trash ;" they appeared to have 
no idea of putting their wits to work to better their con- 
dition, their only thought was to " make shift " for the 
time being. I have seen a man take twenty minutes day 
after day to bolster up a gate to keep cattle from his yard, 
when with a hammer and nails I could in ten minutes 
have made it secure. If a wagon broke down, they would 
tie it up, if it could be tied ; and so keep it tied until it 
broke down again. If their harness gave way, they out 
with a pen-knife, cut two holes, and tied it together, and 
it remained tied month by month. They never dreamed 
of mending it. " What's the use ? That holds ; " they 
would say. The unsightliness never troubled them in 
the least ; they had no eye for it, and this was not only 
true of the common people but of well-to-do planters. 

Their houses were in the most worn-out condition ; 
everything was going to ruin. They never had much, 
were not able to get more during the war, and had not 
taken care of v/hat they had. The common candlestick 
of the country was a potato, sometimes a bottle. Of 
plates and dishes there was the greatest scarcity. I have 
seen whole families eating their meals from broken pieces 
of crockery with their fingers. One very decent family 
had no forks or spoons ; Private Webb, who had quite a 
talent in that way, got some hard wood and carved out of 
it a pretty set of spoons and three-pronged forks. He 
polished them, and they were very neat. Any house- 
keeper would have prized them. These he presented to 
a woman, who appeared very grateful. The next time he 
went that way there were but two left ! " The children 
tuk 'em ter dig and shuvel with, they did." One-third 



234 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

of these people were barefoot and the remainder wore 
shoes made of cloth with woolen soles. Their clothes 
were homespun ; as for household linen, towels, etc., they 
had none. 

'' Where did you get that parrot, Charley ? '* said Kiler, 
as we came suddenly on a man who had an ugly, raven- 
ous-looking bird fastened by a short chain to a stump, he 
holding a tempting morsel, at which the bird was snap- 
ping. 

^' I bought her from a woman on the tramp here for a 
piece of tobacco. Hang Jeff Davis, " — this was said 
to the bird, who again snapped at the cake — ** she did not 
like to part with the thing, but could not resist the weed. 
She loved the parrot much, but bacca more. The con- 
founded beast is secesh and she won't say ^ Hang Jeff 
Davis.' She has got to, though, or starve ; she said 
* Damn the Yankees ' fast enough when I first saw her. 
I have thrashed that out of her, though. She can talk 
glib as any one when she pleases to call for crackers 
or — " '' Polly wants a cracker," interrupted the parrot, 
catching at the word. 

He took a cracker from his pocket and held it up be- 
fore her ; she dived at it. 

" You want it, do you ? You have to say * Hang Jeff 
Davis ' first." 

He put the cracker back and held the cake before her, 
repeating the sentence ; she only screeched the louder, 
^* Polly wants a cracker." 

^* Let me try," said Kiler, holding it towards her ; she 
made a vicious plunge at him, and buried her beak deep 
in the fleshy part of his hand, drawing blood. 

^^ Ha ! ha ! ha ! she knows better than to try that game 
with me," laughed Charley. 

Once more he held the cake, and, to his great joy, the 



AT CHATTAXOOGA—IN WINTER QUARTERS. 235 

parrot screeched again and again, *^ Hang Jeff Davis/* 
" Hang Jeff Davis," '' Hang Jeff Davis." 

Delighted, he caught her up, stroked her feathers and 
stuffed her with cake as she sat upon his shoulder, every 
now and then poking her bill into his beard. ^* She 
cost one reb his life," he said, fastening the little chain 
which held her to his button-hole. '^ 'Twas in our last 
battle. I thought I had left the thing safe in camp, when 
just as we expected the summons ^ fall in,' she came 
whirring along and perched on my shoulder — her place 
when we travel — screeching ^ Polly wants her breakfast.' 
I had forgotten to give her anything when I left. One of 
the boys threw her a cracker, and I fastened her in a 
tree at a little distance ; she kept quiet as long as she had 
the hard tack to file her bill on. 

^^ Presently our turn came, and the bullets crashed 
all around us, making the splinters dance. She became 
uneasy, and flying the length of her chain from limb to 
limb, shrieked her whole vocabulary over and over. We 
were sent back a little, and while we were waiting orders 
the rebs came nearer the tree where she was making such 
a fuss. I watched them, for I did not want to lose her. 
One stepped forward and raised his piece, when suddenly 
she began to shriek ' Damn the Yankees, Damn the 
Yankees.' She must have caught the word from them, 
for I had stopped her at it. A loud laugh ran along their 
line and the chap lowered his rifle and made straight for 
the tree, determined to capture her. I wanted to wring her 
neck, but I was not going to let them have her to make 
fun for them, so I drew a bead on him and popped away ; 
he fell, hit in the head. I ran from my place, seized her 
chain, and dragged her off, the bullets whistHng round 
me. I half throttled her when I got her back, and she 
has never said * Damn the Yankees ' since." '^ Hang Jeff 



236 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

Davis/* " Hang Jeff Davis," vociferated the parrot as he 
finished. 

" I would not take fifty dollars for her," he said proudly. 

I enjoyed getting near the camp fires at night, and listen- 
ing to the men's talk, for they had all sorts of strange 
adventures to tell. They thought of the dangers gone 
through only to exult in their escapes, light-hearted and 
merry. To hear them you might suppose there was no 
bloodshed or war in the world. 

Private P was a capital horseman an'd had belonged 

to the courier line ; he was one of the best riders at a 
time when it was important to keep up a constant com- 
munication with the distant parts of the army. Furnished 
with a fleet horse, a courier started, galloping a certain 
number of miles to a station, where another, already 
mounted and waiting, received the despatch ; this man 
without a moment's delay set off over the ground he was 
to travel to the next point, which was often a designated 
place in the woods, where some five or six men bivouacked, 
and kept guard. 

About the time of the siege of Knoxville very import- 
ant despatches were entrusted to the couriers, and the 

rides were dangerous. P 's turn came. His course was 

over the most difiicult part of the road. 

'^ It VN^as nightfall," said he, ^^ and the chap before me had 
been due fifteen minutes. I sat on my horse wondering 
at the delay. It was going to be a hard ride, though 
but five miles, for it had turned cold and sleety, with 
the wind from the North, and it was getting dark as a 
pocket. The road I had to travel was only a track 
through the woods, and to make it pleasanter we had in- 
formation that bushwhackers were abroad in the neighbor- 
hood. I was talking over the danger with Smith and 
Jones, at the same time decorating Wild Fire's bridle and 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN- WINTER QUARTERS. 237 

girths with boughs of cedar, for the want of something 
else to do, when the other fellow hove in sight, riding at 
a tremendous rate. I stopped to ask no questions, but 
got the papers, and was off in a twinkling, he calling after 
me that the rebs were on our track. 

" You remember Wild Fire. He had more sense than 
most men, horse though he was ; fleet as the wind, he 
knew exactly when to snort and when to be still; he knew 
the road, and though it was so dark I could not see his 
head, I trusted to him. We had done almost half the 
travel, when, getting to the top of a steep hill, the road 
being nothing but a narrow P^orge cut by the water run- 
ning down in wet seasons, I paused a minute, to let him 
get breath, and to pull my collar closer about my face, 
for the wind was driving right into us, and bringing with 
it little frozen particles, that stung like points of steel — 
were those voices I heard amid the storm as it 
swept by ? 

" I lowered my head and listened intently, and as I did 
so I touched Wild Fire's ears, and found he was pricking 
them up. The wind dashed in my face, bringing the 
same sound, human voices sure enough. In a minute I 
was on the ground. I happened to know the spot, for I 
had once stopped not ten yards off to examine a hollow 
tree, thinkmg coons might be in it. My eyes had become 
somewhat accustomed to the darkness, so that it was not 
quite so inky as at first. I led Wild Fire some four or 
five yards off, and fastened him to a clump of cedars, 
told him to be quiet, and went in search of the hollow 
tree. I had some little difficulty in finding it, as it was 
closer to the path than I thought ; however, I stumbled on 
it, and very comfortable quarters it was. Hardly was I 
fixed when three men came along single file, and paused 
a few feet from me. After some curses on the weather, 



238 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

they proposed stopping where they were, and I found by 
their conversation I was their object. 

" ^ He'll be likely to rest a spell when he gets up here, or 
go slower,' one remarked. They dismounted and fasten- 
ed their horses ; as they did so, one said : ^ I thought I 
saw something moving yonder ? ' 

^^ ' So you did, the wind in the cedars ; don't you git 
skeart, Bill I ' Bill declared he was not skeart, using some 
hard words at the same time, and they seated themselves 
against a tree with their backs to the wind, a few feet from 
my hiding place, and began to talk, having first taken a 
drink from a flask, which with jokes they passed from one 
to the other. They were rather annoyed at my not mak- 
ing my appearance ; they wanted my despatches and had 
some other work on hand for that night, for which they 
feared they would be too late. They told of two poor 
fellows they had hung that day. My blood was all in a 
boil, but I sat still figuring out what I was going to do. 

^' In a few minutes I crawled out from the tree. They 
neither saw nor heard me. I made my way to where 
Wild Fire was tied, and, slipping his bridle over my arm, 
cautiously crept to where their horses were fastened ; for- 
tunately for me, a few feet in their rear. Wild Fire 
knew what I was about, and walked like a cat. It was 
but a minute's work to loosen their animals ; then, spring- 
ing on Wild Fire's back, in a blast of the wind that came 
crackling through the trees, I rode close to them and 
fired. 

*^ One of them, with an ' Oh ! ' fell forward on his face. 
The others sprung to their feet and turned tov/ards me ; 
then, with a strange sort of cry, and without firing a shot, 
ran for their horses, which were now tearing through the 
woods like things possessed. 

" Safe in my saddle, I gave them a couple more shots 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS. 239 

at random ; then, putting spurs to Wild Fire, went like 
mad. We had traveled a half mile when I heard shot 
after shot from the spot we had left. When I reached 
the post, a wild sort of cry was uttered by the guard, and 
they halted and questioned me before they would let me 
advance. 

" I soon discovered the cause of their alarm. The cedars 
with which I had fixed up Wild Fire's ears stuck out like 
great horns, and those I had put in his bridle and girths 
made him look more like a harnessed devil than a human 
in the darkness. I laughed heartily. About three weeks 
after that some half a dozen of us passed that way again, 
and lying right where I had shot him was the body of the 
rebel ; it had been gnawed and torn by some wild animal. 
The leaves and earth around were clotted with dryed 
blood, a trail of it showing that another had been badly 
'wounded. The boys helped me ; we dug a hole and put 
the body in it, cutting a stick to mark the spot. I can 
kill a man in battle without a tremor, am glad that he is 
down ; but somehow I don't like to think of that man 
there. I often wish I had not seen him." 

^'It would not trouble me a bit," said one. '^ They 
were after your life. Even the law allows you to kill a 
man in self-defense. I suppose the chaplain would say 
your putting the cedars there was a special providence. 
Queer, warn't it ? " 

" How was it you and Captain Phil got away from 
them t'other day. Bill ? The colonel was hard on Captain 
Phil about that." 

"He disobeyed orders, I reckon." 

" I had no orders," I answered sharply. 

"You came near having no need for anymore. It 
don't do for small chaps like you to stray so far from camp ; 
however, it was as much mine and Dan's fault as yourn." 



240 CAPTAIN PHlL 

This was an adventure about which the colonel had 
reprimanded me severely, and John, who was very angry^ 
and knew my proclivity to tell such things, had forbidden 
me to speak. 

"Why, you see," Bill began — "you know Dan, the 
colonel's nigger ? He's as smart as any white man I ever 
saw. We went out for a hunt, and met Captain Phil a 
little way from camp, who joined us, and we strayed off 
further than we thought. We were in the mountains, 
some six or seven miles off, and were on a sort of a low 
ridge after a coon, when suddenly Dan said, * Golly, 
massa, thar's the rebels.' I looked, and saw on a ridge 
opposite us twenty horsemen ; they saw us as we saw 
them, and, firing a volley, put spurs to their animals. I 
thought we had gone up. But Dan, seizing Phil by the 
arm, said : * Come on, massa, come on.' 

" We ran some two hundred feet across the smooth plat 
where we had been standing to the other side of the ridge, 
and went tumbling down its rocky face, urged on by the 
shouts of the rebels, who were after us in the valley. It 
was very cold. A creek ran at the foot of the ridge, 
which w^as frozen, except where it tossed over the rocks. 
You know what queer places there are all about these 
mountains, and how springs spout out everywhere ? About 
half way down the side we were going there were several 
frozen to their source, as was shown by the large pieces, 
like curtains of ice, and heavy icicles, hanging from the 
earth and rocks. 

" In one place we had observed that the water had 
frozen as it fell in a broad sheet eight or ten feet in 
length, which hung down the straight face of the cliff. It 
was to this place Dan made his way, clinging to rocks and 
shrubs, Captain Phil and I following. 'Hurry, massa, 
hurry ! ' he said, in a whisper, as we reached it. ' I har 



AT CHATTANOOGA-^IN WINTER QUARTERS, 241 

dem comin' tu de top on t'other side/ Scrambling over 
the projections of earth and rocks, covered with shrubs 
and trees, he let himself straight down beside this ice 
curtain, holding to a root, and then dropping off. Captain 
Phil and I did the same, and found, when we stood be- 
side him, that there was plenty of space between the ice 
and the earth for a man to creep. He motioned, and we 
went in. Gathering some leaves and sticks, he quickly 
came after us, and stuffed them in the hole ; leaving a 
small opening for a lookout. The action of the water 
had cleared out a spot sufficient for three or four men to 
lie in, having the rock overhead for a roof. Leaves had 
drifted into this hollow, making a soft bed, which was 
warm and dry, and the place was secure, too ; for, unless 
you were beside it, you could not tell there was an ex- 
cavation there, the ice curtain so completely screened it, 
except the hole at the side we had crept in at, and made 
it uniform with the face of the cliff. It was just like 
standing on the rocks behind the waterfall at Niagara, 
with the whole fall between you and the light." 

''' On a small scale. Bill." 

^* Of course. Well, we had hardly drawn breath after our 
run, when we heard them above us. They beat the 
bushes, poked among the rocks, and scoured the ridge 
over and over. At length they stood on the smooth plat 
above our heads. We could hear every word they said. 
They swore awful oaths that they would have us ; we 
must be hidden somewhere ; it was impossible for us to 
have escaped. The infernal nigger — they would tan his 
hide for saddles if they caught him. Then they stamped 
their feet, saying it was confounded cold ; and, to amuse 
themselves, they threw bits of rocks down and broke 
off pieces of our ice curtain. Dan looked a little 
anxious at this, but he kept still. They soon tired 
16 



24^ CAPTAIN PHIL, 

of it, and concluded to make a fire and wait for the 
others. 

*^ Accordingly, they grouped themselves, and prepared 
for a stay. We found from their conversation that they 
were a marauding party, doing a little private business on 
their own hook, and were now on their return from burn- 
ing the house of a Union man and turning his family out 
into the woods. ' Poor white trash ! ' whispered Dan 
between his teeth ; ^ dey meaner dan skunks.' I had 
discovered this by their talk, their use and abuse of 
the r's. 

*' I was very tired, and after a time fell asleep and awoke 
in the night with the cramp, to find Dan also asleep and 
snoring. Awaking him we concluded to take turns until 
^daylight, as it was no use to try and escape now, for we 
did not know how the enemy had distributed himself, and 
it was too dark to make discoveries. Captain Phil slept on. 

'^ In the gray of the morning Dan cautiously moved the 
leaves and went out to reconnoitre. He vv^as gone some 
time, and returned as noiselessly as he went. 

" The party above consisted of twenty-five men ; they 
had bivouacked on the open plat at the top of the ridge, 
from whence they were able to see the country for miles 
around ; six of their number were posted as a guard, two 
of them occupied the rock above our heads. The cap- 
tain of the company was Mr. Bryce, one, as Dan expressed 
it, of ' de Debil's own ; ' he owned the plantation next to 
his old massa ; knew him well. He had gathered, from 
listening to the sentries' talk, that they were going to stay 
here for a day or two. ^ Dey hab some deviltry in dar 
heads,' he concluded, ' for I hard 'em talk ob de widow 
Catlett and someting her daughters war tu du. She libs 
near Varnel's Station, and is a rebel all ober, and mighty 
cute, too, de darkies say.' 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS, 243 

" We made up our minds to keep earthed until night. I 
emptied my pockets of crackers, with which I had for- 
tunately filled them, and Dan produced a bag of parched 
corn, and we ate our breakfast. He then prooeeded to 
stop the opening ; he scratched up a few pieces of rock 
from under the leaves and placed them in the hole, 
thrusting sticks and leaves about them to make them look 
natural, and as though they had drifted there, saying to 
us in a whisper, ' Most on 'em will be gone derectly, and 
den t'others will go ter poking round tu pars de time and 
see what dey can see.' He placed himself close to the 
chink he had left for light, and with his penknife began 
working on a piece of sapling he had in his hand. 

^^ I lay down among the leaves, and listened to the horses 
snorting and pawing above me, and at last fell asleep. 
When I awoke he was on his knees. Captain Phil beside 
him, looking intently through the little crevice, his rifle 
grasped in his hand ; he heard me move, and made a 
quick motion for me to be silent. I seized my rifle and 
quietly crept to his side ; he drew his head back that I 
might see out. There, within five feet of us, stood a 
Grayback, poking with the butt end of his musket in a 
hole. I drew back, and was instinctively about to sight 
my piece and fire, when Dan seized my arm, his eyes 
speaking plainer than any eyes I ever saw. We sat per- 
fectly still and watched him. He left the hole, and seiz- 
ing a bush to steady himself, swung dowm beside us, and 
stood leaning against the icy barrier, breaking off icicles 
with the end of his piece, separated from my hands only 
by the rock and leaves Dan had put there, his body keep- 
ing out all the light that had come through the crevice. 
He must hear us breathe, I thought. 

** When satisfied with his amusement, he went on climb- 
ing down to the creek. We heard him swearing at the 



244 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

steepness of the cliff, and found he was after water ; and 
also discovered a guard was stationed below us on the 
bank of the creek, for its bed was the only road through 
the gorge. 

" ^ *Twould hab been all ober wid us ef you'd hab fired,* 
said Dan, still in a whisper : ^ he hab us like rats in a 
trap.* I saw our only safety was in keeping quiet, for we 
could not put our heads out without being seen by the 
guard below. I slept as much as I could, but it was a 
terribly long day. The negro whittled, and now and then 
cocked his eyes and put his ear to the opening, listening 
to the conversations which were occasionally heard be- 
tween the guard above and the one pacing below. 

" Just at nightfall there was a clattering of horses' hoofs, 
and the man above us called to the one below, * They 
made a fine haul, Sam ! ' which was replied to by com- 
plaints of the cold. After dark, Dan crawled out on a 
tour of observation. * Dey'l be keen,* he said, ' tu har 
what t'others got tu say, and won't keep good watch. 
Now, Captain Phil, and you, massa, keep quiet/ 

** He was gone some time, and when he returned he told 
me we must get away. He had made out from their talk 
that this point was a sort of rendezvous. The party that 
had left in the morning had brought five or six more with 
them. * We must wait a bit,* he said. ' I counted the 
horses ; there are thirty-five ; we must cut dem loose, 
*cept what we ride on. See har, massa ' — he produced a 
tin horn ; ^ I cut that from a saddle. How I did want to 
cut Massa Bryce's froat. I knew whar he was dar was 
deviltry ; hard him tell how he used a poor nigger to-day, 
didn't want to be took Souf ; he tied his wrists to his sad- 
dle, and cut up his hoss to a gallop, slashing de nigger 
and de hoss at de same time. De poor nigger fell behind, 
and de hoss dragged and kicked him, and when he was 



AT CHATTAXOOGA—IX WINTER QUARTERS, 245 

most nigh dead he cut him loose. He tell it wid a laugh, 
and say, ^ Bound to be quiet now 'bout gwying Souf. 
Neber mind, de nigger's turn '11 come.' 

" The night was very dark, and it had begun to snow. 
We waited until we thought them sleeping, then got out 
quietly. Dan had directed me which way to go and what 
to do ; he gave us each a whistle. I found out now what 
he had been whittling at. ' Now, massa, you and Cap- 
tain Phil go round yonder, and cut all de bosses loose ; 
I'll go dis side. When youse har my whistle, be sure to 
mount de best bosses and take right up de creek. I'll 
jine you.' The wind made so much noise among the 
trees they could not hear us. Reaching the place where 
the horses were tethered, I chose one for each, and slipped 
my bridle on my arm while I unloosed the others. I had 
some difficulty, and they made considerable fuss. I was 
nearly through, when I heard a reb call out, ^ There is 
something to pay among the horses.' The next minute 
I heard a shot, followed by the whistle and a long blast 
on the tin horn. We blew the whistles we had, jumped 
on our horses, and were about starting them down the 
steep side of the ridge to the creek, when I heard voices : 
* The Yanks are on us ! ' I could hear, rather than see, a 
half dozen men advancing towards us. We fired, and drew 
the pistols from the holsters and fired again ; there was a 
groan and a heavy fall. ^We are surrounded,' I heard. 
Then I blew the whistle loud, and turning to a point that 
in the gloom appeared less steep than the rest, dashed 
down it and up the creek. We had gone over about a 
quarter of a mile, when there was a galloping behind us. 
I paused and whistled ; it was answered, and I knew it 
was Dan. ' Hurry up, massa,' he said ; ^ dey are after 
us,' he chuckled ; ' dey tought de Yanks had surrounded 
dem fust, but I did not git de bosses all loose, and dey 



246 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

seed me/ I heard them coming, and we did not spare 
horseflesh. Several shots went past us, but we kept on 
over the stony road, between two walls as it were. 
Presently Dan said, ^ Git off, massa, and you, Captain 
Phil, and give dat hoss a cut dat '11 send him flying.* 

" I was down in a minute, and we drew under the shadow 
of a rock, the animals galloping off. As we crouched here 
unseen, nine rebels, urging their horses to their utmost 
speed, went by. Before they were out of hearing, we 
hastily crossed the creek and went a little distance below, 
where there was a cleft or gorge made by a small moun- 
tain stream. We began to mount the cliff by following 
the stream, and had just got in when five of the party went 
spurring by to join the others, having caught their horses. 
Their imprecations on ^ that nigger ' were loud and deep, 
as they passed the place where we lay. After a toilsome 
climb, we reached the top of the ridge, and sat down for 
a while. * Safe now, massa, dis chile know dis country ; 
was up har at Coosa Springs free summers wid old massa. 
I guess Colonel Bryce won't tie a nigger soon ; ef he ar'n't 
dead he mighty nigh it. You see, I had trouble wid de 
bosses, and he warn't asleep ; he come ter see what was 
de matter, and I couldn't stand to see him right dar, and I 
put a ball into him ; dis roused dem all, and dey saw 'twas 
me. I tought one time I most gone, but de whistles and 
de horn dumbflustered dem ; dey tought de Yankees all 
'bout.' 

^^ We heard no more of that party and about daylight 
reached the pickets in safety." Bill ended ; I said noth- 
ing, but I felt he had stolen my thunder. 

The men were kept as busy as possible, but there was 
not much to do, and they were ready for a hand at any- 
thing to pass the time. Going round the camps you 
might see them engaged in all sorts of occupations; every 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS. 247 

kind of game was resorted to. Often men would gamble 
away in an hour a whole year's pay. There was also 
preaching and exhorting. Among the more serious 
prayer meetings were held, and not unfrequently the 
sound of a hymn and a profane song would go up within 
a few feet of each other. 

Officers were absent on furlough, and late in the winter. 
Captain Loomis, who always had thought for the men, 
returned from Cincinnati and brought with him several 
hundred little newspapers called the Knapsack^ published 
at the Sanitary Fair which had been held in Cincinnati. 
These were distributed among the men and caused much 
satisfaction, as they told what the women and m-en at home 
thought of, and what they were doing for the soldiers in 
the field. They had heard of the Chicago and New York 
fairs and the wonders they had done, and now read with 
interest of this. They liked to know they were remem- 
bered. Often I have heard a veteran say to a new ar- 
rival: "What do they say of us at home?" They had 
a personal interest in the Sanitary and Christian Com- 
missions. Once when some wagon trains were attacked, 
and stores belonging to these associations were lost, I 
heard a number of men swear (in a way that would 
have been anything but pleasant for the gentlemen of the 
Christian Commission to hear), that they did not care if 
Uncle Sam lost all his stores, he had money enough to 
get more and to pay men to take care of them, but it was 
a burning shame that these associations should lose w^hat 
they had collected for the sick and wounded ; they hoped 
in addition that the rebels who did it would suffer for 
everything in the hospital. 

Spring was beginning to come, the spring of the South, 
while it was yet midwinter at home. I spent much time 
going round the country. I went out to Huntsville, in 



248 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

Alabama, and to Stevenson. John was always willing I 
should go anywhere if it was safe. I was several times 
up at the *^ Suck " in the river, which is ten or twelve 
miles from Chattanooga. After sweeping round the bend 
where the town stands, the Tennessee runs almost straight 
North, then makes another sudden curve to the South 
between Waldron's Ridge and Raccoon Ridge. At this 
point the river is full of rocks, is very deep and nearly 
three hundred yards wide, the current is so strong it car- 
ries everything before it. Waldron's Ridge rises perpen- 
dicularly almost ; its face shaded with large trees and 
appearing like a great wall put there to keep the water 
back, which in revenge lashes itself in a rage on the other 
side, foaming and sputtering, and sending wreaths and 
flakes high in the air. The boats could make no head- 
way at this point ; they were helpless amid the whirls and 
eddies formed by the boiling and foaming water, which 
dashes along at the rate of eighty miles an hour over the 
huge rocks. 

As this had been the great channel through which we 
procured supplies, several windlasses were placed along 
the shore and manned by the men, a detachment under 
officers being always kept there for the purpose. The 
boat would put on all the steam it could carry, the men 
exert all their strength, and foot by foot it would be drawn 
through the whirling rapids past a certain point, when an- 
other windlass and another set of men would take hold of it. 
After two or three hours of such toil less than a quarter of 
a mile of the river was accomplished, and the meat and 
bread of the army went on its way in smooth water. It 
was hard work, but there was excitement in it, and the 
men did not dislike it. Those working the windlass on 
the boat shouted and *^ heaved ho " to those on shore ; 
the lookers on cheered and encouraged, and sprung 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS. 249 

to the spokes with a helping hand when help was 
needed. 

There are more twists and turns in the Tennessee river, 
between Bridgeport and Chattanooga, than in any river I 
ever saw, and both the '' Suck " and the Narrows have to 
be encountered in that short distance. 

The army began to be impatient for a move ; the weather 
was getting warm and they were very tired of being cooped 
up in the mountains. The rebel pickets extended to 
Ringgold, and they were pressing on our lines. General 
Grant, somewhere about the 7th of March, I think, was 
made commander of the whole army, and had left for the 
Potomac ; General Sherman was appointed commander of 
the Department of the Mississippi, embracing the Depart- 
ments of Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee and Arkansas. 
Great preparations were making for a campaign. Gen- 
eral Sherman was back and forth from Nashville, and 
finally made his headquarters there. 

We had advanced somewhat. General Palmer occupied 
the Chickamauga battle-field ; and the ridges in the 
neighborhood were fortified. The rebels were at Tunnel 
Hill and Dalton. 

As soon as we had possession of the ground, the First 
Ohio sharpshooters were sent out to bury the dead of 
that battlefield, who for nearly five months had lain where 
they had fallen, exposed to sun and wind and storm, rot- 
ting above the earth. Captain Barber preserved every 
relic for the friends, and tried to identify the corpses by 
every means in his power. He buried eight hundred and 
seventy-four bodies, which the rebels had let decay in 
their sight. They would not bury them nor permit us to 
do it. I went over the battle-field with John, and down 
to Crawfish Springs, where we were told we should find 
the grave of Captain Thomas Murdoch. He was buried 



250 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

by our surgeons, who remained with the wounded when 
the hospital was captured by the rebels. In a field near 
the Widow Glenn's were some twenty or thirty graves, and 
among them was his ; the name written on a board at the 
head. The body was taken up and sent home for 
burial. 

They showed us the ambrotype of a lady which had 
been picked up in the field. Several of the kind had 
been found ; also letters, envelopes, knapsacks, cups, etc., 
all of which were taken care of for loved ones away. 
Most of these articles had names or initials on them, by 
which they could be known. The command which occu- 
pied the spot where they were found was carefully noted 
down to help to identify the parties to whom they be- 
longed. 

When about a mile and a half from Crawfish Springs, 
we came upon a party as they were going to bury the body 
of an officer found there ; he could not have been recog- 
nized by his best and dearest, except through his cloth- 
ing and hair ; he had on no trousers, but white cotton 
drawers and shirt, and a frock coat ; his hair and beard 
were brown. They measured him and he was nearly six 
feet in height. 

This sight, more than anything else, made me feel bitter 
to the rebels ; it seemed so horrible to let their poor vic- 
tims lie out like beasts. 

A few days after this I was cleaning my gun, while 
John was lying under a tree reading. A prisoner, who 
had been brought in the day before, stood with a group 
under guard quite near me. I put down the piece to get 
something from our quarters ; he took it up. As I re- 
turned he was showing it to another, and said, when I 

drew near : '' This is Colonel L 's gun ; he lost it at 

Bull Run.*' The guard ordered him to let it alone. 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS. 251 

'* It might have been his gun," I said, taking it from his 
hand, " but I captured it, and it is mine now." 

^^ Be you the chap that wounded him thar ? I hern 
him say he'd enermost give its weight in silver to git it 
back. His father fetched it from France and thar's the 
family arms on it. I lived on his place you see, and seed 
him many a time shoot with it." 

" I don't know whether I wounded him or no ; don't 
think I did, but I picked up this piece there, and he shall 
not have it for his weight in gold." 

I spoke earnestly and short. The man stood still a 
moment, then said : " Wal, both sides run that ar' day, 
they did ; neither know'd how bad t'other was hurt, but 
think you'se run the fastest." 

I made no reply ; only scowled at him and walked away. 

" Phil," said John, after a moment, ** I think you forget 
that man is a prisoner." 

" No, I do not," was my reply, ^^but I was thinking of 
the poor fellows out there," pointing in the direction of 
the Chickamauga battle- field, " and I hate their outlandish 
talk." 

"That was the fault of his superiors," John pointed as 
I had done ; " and, as to his talk, I advise you, if your ears 
are so delicate, to avoid Yorkshire should you ever visit 
England." 

John's tone was cold, and, rather crestfallen, I rubbed 
away in silence. 

Deserters came in every day, often in parties of thirty 
and fifty. Hundreds would join us in the course of a 
month. They all expressed themselves tired of the w^ar, 
and railed at the hardships they had to endure and the 
scarcity of food. All through the winter our quarter- 
masters gave out rations to the destitute at Chattanooga. 

It was in the army of the Tennessee that I first saw ne- 



252 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

gro soldiers. I had heard them talked of, and some of 
our men who had seen them told me they were the funni- 
est looking troops they had ever seen. So I went out to 
look at the first company that arrived, expecting to have 
a good laugh. I was never more surprised in my life. 
They marched like one man; not, as John said, with the 
independent, go-ahead tread of the white volunteer sol- 
dier, but with the regularity of a machine. Each man 
seemed intent upon what he was doing and upon doing 
it well. 

They held themselves and their arms beautifully ; 
along the whole line there was scarce a hair's variation in 
the level of their guns. Their dress was neat, and when 
they went through the exercise they were perfect in 
drill. 

I afterwards stood by John's side, amid a group of 
officers who were talking of these soldiers. One officer said 
they would drill all day long until the w^hite officers were 
tired out, and they would drill by themselves half the 
night ; that they were more particular about their equip- 
ments than most of the whites ; more precise, and fought 
like wild cats. 

They also spoke of their truth and fidelity to the cause. 
A gallant officer, who was their warm friend, stated that 
when at Memphis he had been ordered with his com- 
mand, only a remnant, to march some distance from the 
city, and camp at a certain place. He did so. On his 
arrival there a soldier informed him that a negro woman, 
who was hiding in the bushes, desired to see him. He 
ordered the man to bring the woman to him. She was 
brought, and told the officer that the rebels had informa- 
tion that he was to be there, and would soon surround 
him ; she had heard her master talking of it the evening 
before, and had walked through the woods, at night, a 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS. 253 

distance of eighteen miles, to warn him. He heeded the 
warning and moved off, having only twenty minutes the 
start of a detachment of twice his number, who reached 
the spot to find him gone. He afterward captured the 
officer in command of that detachment, who asked him 
how he had received information of his approach at that 
time, stating that he was certain he had trapped him. 

The negroes who followed our army in its march all 
through, dug and spaded, and corduroyed and laid 
bridges, in swamps and on dry land, under orders, late and 
early, with cheerfulness and alacrity. 

As John and I talked about the negro soldiers, he said : 
*^ Their soldierly bearing is all the result of obedience, 
Phil. They neither ask why or wherefore. Their duty 
has been to hear and obey. This has been the whole of 
their education." 

" The better slave the better soldier," I said, laughing. 

Some of the men looked at their black comrades in the 
most curious way ; they could not understand that ^' a 
nigger " could make a soldier ; others received them 
kindly, but the Irish jeered and laughed at them on all 
occasions. 

I often went to the Provost MarshaFs office, where 
there was always a crowd waiting for orders to get pro- 
visions ; negroes and white people, young and old ; those 
who had always been poor, and those who had always 
been rich, and were now ruined, standing side by side 
waiting their turns — beggars at the door of the govern- 
ment they were trying to ruin. Between five and six 
thousand persons got their daily rations there, and had 
nowhere else to turn for bread. I pitied the women I 
saw ; sometimes two or three little children, who had 
evidently been accustomed to being petted and waited 
on, clung to their mother and cried for the salt pork and 



254 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

hard tack which the mother patiently and gladly waited 
for permission to get. 

Yet our men all said the women were a great deal 
worse than the men. Kiler said it was the old story, of 
" Satan finding some mischief still for idle hands to do," 
for the Southern women had never put their hands to 
the use God intended they should, and were now frantic 
at the idea of losing their slaves, and being compelled to 
do something. 

Katie, a bright mulatto girl, who did washing about 
the camp, was a runaway slave — free now. On one of 
the officers asking her v/hat her work was on the planta- 
tion, she said : '^ I did nuffing but wait on young missus, 
and when she got married I went to her home. I had to 
fotch her things and dress her, and put on her shoes and 
wash her feet, and comb her har, and scratch her back, 
and put on her stockings, and fotch and carry for her." 

" A¥as she good to you ? " 

** Yes ; sometimes she would fotch me a box on de 
head dat enermost would knock me over, and if I did 
not git her har right would pull my years ; but mainly 
she was purty good. I allays had a good place to sleep 
in her room on de floor, and a big piece ob carpet for de 
cober. It was mighty warm by de fire." 

This scratching of the back appeared to be a luxury 
peculiar to the South. I have heard one man ask 
another to scratch his back, and ladies who visited the 
South said it was a common thing for a young lady, when 
going to bed, to call a negro girl to scratch her back for 
her, and she would keep her at it sometimes for half an 
hour while she sat in her night dress and talked. 

March had gone. The weather was becoming very 
warm. The country around looked beautiful, flowers 
new and strange bloomed on the hills, and beside the 



AT CHATTANOOGA— IN WINTER QUARTERS. 255 

little streams* in the valleys. The men were busy, and 
the bustle and din of preparation was on all sides. Our 
winter quarters at Chattanooga were fairly broken up, 
and the hot summer of the Southern country was before 
us. 

" This campaign will make or mar us, Captain Phil, 
and put us to our mettle," said a gallant son of Indiana, 
as he wiped from his brow the drops that an overhauling 
of boxes had brought there. And it did, and it showed 
the enemy what metal there was in the West, and in the 
whole country. 

The men spent much time carving pipes, and cane 
heads, and little figures out of laurel root. Kiler had a 
set of chess men he had carved and inlaid with red 
cedar. He called them Joe Hooker's men, because the 
roots were dug on Lookout Mountain. Thimbles, and 
cups, and pipes were sent home in numbers by the boys 
when they had an opportunity. I saw a great big Penn- 
sylvanian, with his spectacles on his nose, busily engaged 
carving a doll for his little girl at home. John said he 
loved him for it. All liked the brave Pennsylvania 
troops. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

ROCKY FACE — RESACA. 

'' TJURRAH," I shouted when John told me General 

II Sherman had taken up his quarters with the army, 
*^ now we know there is something on hand." 

"Yes, we have a summer's fighting before us," was 
John's reply. 

It was the first of May. Some time before this the giv- 
ing out of rations to the destitute had stopped by order ; 
everything was wanted for the army. This looked like 
business, the veterans said. The railroad had been bring- 
ing in barrels of pork, coffee and sugar, and boxes of 
hard tack ; these provisions stood in great piles ready for 
distributio.n to the several divisions, which were coming 
up and massing about Ringgold. The weather was fine, 
and the men eager to get on ; they were packing their 
knapsacks, putting things in the smallest possible space. 
Orders had been issued that no baggage that could pos- 
sibly be done without, would be allowed, as the men must 
be unincumbered. 

Now the whole army was in motion and the fighting 
began. After the battle of Stone River, I had remon- 
strated with John about being sent to the rear; I felt mean 
and it looked cowardly. — I was no coward — to be put 
back with the teamsters and non-combatants, " the tail 
end " as the boys called them. 

Kiler took my part, told John he was making a baby of 
me—said that lads no older than I did duty every day in 



ROCKY FACE—RESACA. 257 

the service, and that he was glad Phil had more spirit 
than to desire to be among that crew, often made up of 
skulkers and bummers, the scum of the army. He had 
known them to play poker and brag while the greatest 
battles were fought, and hardly stop the game to ask which 
side was victorious. 

Kiler had great influence with John. They had 
been at school together, and although John was only a 
merchant's clerk and Kiler was the son of a rich and a 
fashionable man, they liked each other. Kiler had enlist- 
ed in John's company, but, as he told me himself, it had 
been terribly hard for him to get into harness, and learn 
to obey orders. One day John instructed a sergeant to 
take men and perform some duty, and told Kiler he 
wished him to be of the number. Kiler was seated com- 
fortably reading at the time. *^ Pshaw, Wharton," he said, 
^' what is the use." '^ The colonel wishes it done," was John's 
reply. " Ridiculous, perfect nonsense, always disturbing 
a fellow just when he happens to be a little at ease." He 
continued his grumbUng, though he prepared to obey the 
order, and John walked away. 

*^ Now you see, Phil," said Kiler, when telling me this, 
" any other man ' dressed in a little brief authority ' would 
have given me very serious trouble for this. It was al- 
most insubordination, and in the presence of others too. 
I forgot John was my commanding officer, and instead of 
obeying the order without a word, as a private should, 
remonstrated in rather contemptuous tones as man to 
man. Wharton had too much good sense to notice it, 
and I suddenly saw my own error — I know no officer in 
the service who is so readily and cheerfully obeyed as 
he." 

We had Taylor's Ridge and Tunnel Hill, and the rebels 
had fallen back to Buzzard's Roost Gap. This is a great 
17 



2S8 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

chasm or opening in the Range of mountains between 
Tunnel Hill and Dalton. On one side of this chasm 
rises Buzzard's Roost, to the height of some seven- 
/een or eighteen hundred feet, a sugar loaf shaped hill. I 
was told it took its name from the number of buzzards 
always seen hovering around its top, as though waiting to 
make a meal of us. On the other side of the gorge is 
Rocky Face Ridge, which got its name from the fact that 
it presents an almost straight face of fifty feet in some 
places, not a crag or bush for a bird tolight on, orshrubfor 
a man to cling to. The railroad and the common dirt 
road, and a creek called Mill Creek, all pass through this 
gap in the mountains, of which the rebels had possession. 
They had dammed the creek, thereby making a large 
lake, and had fortified the dam, while all the ridge in the 
vicinity bristled with cannon, covering the railroad and 
every approach. 

It seemed as impossible to take the gap as to take the 
moon, yet the men were going to try. It stood in their 
path, and it must be taken or they must give way. 

On the seventeenth of May we had gained a hill on one 
of these ridges, and after night some of the men proceed- 
ed to draw artillery up there. They fastened ropes to 
the gun carriages, and clung to roots and pointed rocks, 
hauling the heavy cannon after them. They would slip 
back, halt, take breath, and at it again. They were drawn 
down by the weight of the cannon and those in the rear 
were unable to bolster up. They would regain their 
footing, cling to a projection, and slowly mount again. 
After incredible labor, with bruised limbs and heavy with 
weariness, they reached the top, planted their pieces, and 
in the hazy moonlight threw themselves on the rocks to 
sleep. 

The next morning the attack was renewed all along 



ROCKY FACE—RESACA. 259 

our line, upon Buzzard's Roost and Rocky Face. General 
Geary's men fought their way up ridge by ridge. Every 
step was bloodily won. From rock and crevice, and con- 
cealed rifle pits, a deadly fire was kept upon them by the 
foe, while cannon rent their ranks. But on they went, 
taking advantage of each projection and making every 
tree and bit of rock do duty as a breastwork. Crash 
would come the huge stones, rolled down among them by 
the foe, crushing and mangling the poor fellows, dashing 
them from their insecure foothold to the ledge beneath, 
leaving them a shapeless mass of flesh. With hardly a 
look, their comrades pressed to the top, springing over 
deep gorges which opened in their path. 

At the top the cliff shelved back, and there arose from 
it palisades of rocks almost like a built wall; above this 
lay the smooth surface of the crest, spreading out in 
abroad space, thronged with rebels. Scrambling, spring- 
ing, dashing, our men gained the palisades, and went rush- 
ing over. Face to face, hand to hand, they grappled 
with the foe, struggled and tugged. Some gained a foot- 
ing, some were thrown back down the mountain. Others 
hugged their opponents and together they went down to 
death. All the while a battery from a neighboring ledge 
was sending its bullets among them. Five times on that 
day did they force this spot from the rebels, and each 
time was it retaken. At length our men remained the 
victors, yet only for a little, for that night it was decided 
to be untenable, and our force was withdrawn. So ended 
the eighth of May. 

All this John told me, and his face glowed as he spoke 
of the deeds of the New Jersey men, who had been among 
the storming party. Every step of the way, he said, had 
cost a life, for we had been but a few days from Chatta- 
nooga, and our loss was reckoned at nearly a thousand 



26o CAPTAIN PHIL. 

men. ** And what is going to be done now," I said, 
when he told me we had retired from Rocky Face Ridge. 

*^ Nobody knows," interrupted Kiler, who was present; 
" if we cannot get through Buzzard's Roost Gap we can 
get through some other way. Old Billy, instead of look- 
ing after Johnston, I guess, will make Johnston look after 
him." 

I had just fallen into a doze that night, when I was 
roused by Kiler's voice. 

*^ Wharton! Captain!" John was on his feet in a 
moment. '^ There is a poor fellow on a ledge over here, 
who must be desperately wounded. I cannot sleep for 
his groans. I think if you will help me I can reach 
him." 

"Bring the canteen, Phil; it is full of water," John 
said, as he started with Kiler. I followed to a place about 
three hundred yards off, where a cliff arose abruptly, and 
for ten or twelve feet presented a smooth surface of rock 
jutting out above in ledges, on which some stout shrubs 
grew. Our men lay all about sleeping. 

" Oh, God ! " 

*' Do you hear that ? " said Kiler, as we reached the 
cliff. " It is but one of many, but somehow those groans 
came home to me to-night. I could not rest without an 
effort to relieve the poor fellow, and he is just out of 
reach." 

" I think we can manage it," was John's reply; " here," 
he turned and stood with his back to the cliff, " sling this 
canteen over your shoulder, then climb up me to my shoul- 
ders or head, and I think you can reach that sapling that 
shoots out this side. You used to be the best athlete in 
the class." John braced himself against the rock, and 
Kiler climbed to his shoulders. " Stand firm," he said, as 
he reached there, and raised himself on tip-toe to gain the 



ROCKY FACE—RESACA. 261 

sapling. His first effort failed ; another, he could not 
touch it. 

" Take to my head," said John. 
" I am too heavy." 

^* No, no," was the reply, as a groan as of one in mor- 
tal agony reached us ; "' make haste." 

Kiler cautiously mounted to his head, with the aid of 
a stick I handed him, settled himself a moment, stooped, 
gave a spring, and caught the shrub in one hand. Brac- 
ing his knees against the cliff, he drew himself up and we 
lost sight of him. 

There was a silence of some moments, then we heard 
him exclaim: ^' Good Heavens ! Bob, is it you?" Then 
there was a confused murmur of talking. In a few min- 
utes he put his head over the ledge. 

" Phil, run to that cluster of shrubs and bring the 
flask from the pocket of my overcoat. Stay," as I was 
moving ; " bring the overcoat and my blanket too, and 
rifle. Captain, you can manage to get them to me on 
the end of the piece." It was a few feet to where he had 
been lying, and I was back in a moment with the articles. 
John put them on the end of the bayonet, and holding by 
the sapling Kiler leaned over and got them. 

Five minutes passed and again he bent over the ledge. 
*^ Wharton, don't wait for me ; there is nothing to be 
done ; I shall stay here until morning." 

Early next day he came to John ; the poor fellow we 
had heard groaning was his cousin, Bob Anderson, a rebel. 
"Blood is thicker than water," he said; "that is the 
reason I was so drawn to help him ; he had grappled 
with one of our boys near the top there, and together 
they had rolled down the steep ascent, bounding from 
ledge to ledge, in each other's grip. Both had been 
wounded, and when they reached a resting place 



262 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

our man died, but in death held tight to his foe. The 
suffering and horror of his stark, cold enemy locked to 
him was greater than any suffering from his wounds," 
Kiler continued, " for when, by main force, I had relieved 
him of that he was easy. I would like to bury him, 
captain. I always liked him, poor fellow. He was 
kind-hearted and would not have put one of his negroes 
under ground with as little ceremony as we must put 
him. I have his watch and message for his mother and 
the girl he was to marry. He was an only son, and 
my aunt is a widow." 

John ordered some men to assist him, and the two 
bodies were lowered and buried side by side under the 
cliff. 

Some fighting was going on about Buzzard's Roost, 
but the troops were moving off. A cold rain set in which 
continued for several days, and as no fires were allowed 
to tell tales to the enemy, the situation was rather uncom- 
fortable. On the night of the eleventh we lay without 
shelter, and the rain coming down on us, when suddenly 
a man, not far from v>^here we were, began singing : 

**Dark was the night and cold the ground." 

The aptness of the words called forth some dry jokes 
from those lying about ; but before the hymn was through 
there was a full choir of voices singing it. I could not 
but laugh the next morning when the storm was over to 
hear the same voice burst forth : 

* * The rosy light is dawning 
Upon the mountain brow." 

Looking around, I saw the voice belonged to a tall, thin 
backwoodsman, who was engaged in folding and strap- 
ping his blanket. 



ROCKY FACE—RE SACA. 263 

" He keeps his mind in unison with the elements," said 
John, smiling. 

"And his hymns, too," I remarked. 

"What! Long Tom?" 

"We call him the barometer," said a private standing 
near. " He has tunes for all weathers and circumstances, 
songs for victory and defeat, and he is powerful in 
prayer." 

Sherman did make Johnston look after him, for the best 
part of our army had gone further South, passed through 
Snake Creek Gap, where they had a smart skirmish with 
the enemy, and now were marching before Resaca, a little 
town on a bend of the Oostanula River, about fifteen miles 
from Dalton, which Johnston had fortified. The next 
news we had was that Johnston had withdrawn from 
Rocky Face, and with his whole force was at Resaca, de- 
termined here to check our further advance. Our men 
had torn up the railroad tracks, and the bulk of them 
were in the neighborhood of the Oostanula River, where 
there were plenty of hills, swamps, and ravines. It ap- 
peared to me that an ax had never been among these 
forests, the tangled undergrowth of which concealed hun- 
dreds of rebels ; and every hill about this little village 
bristled with cannon. The sharp-shooters had their rifle 
pits artfully covered with brushwood, through which they 
could pick off our men without being seen. 

On Saturday, the fourteenth, the skirmishing was gen- 
eral ; a brisk fire was kept up all along our line, which 
extended much further than that of the rebels. We took 
their first line of rifle-pits, but on Sunday, as it had so 
often happened in this war, the battle was fought. One of 
the approaches to the town was up a steep hill, com- 
manded by the rebels alone. It was a stirring sight to see 
our men charge upon the double quick, and the artillery 



264 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

thundering up, each piece drawn by six horses, the ani- 
mals white with foam, with a driver to each pair, lashing 
them to fury. 

The men talked much of an encounter which some of 
General Hooker's men, I believe, had with the rebels for 
a battery in a kind of fortification on the side of a hill, 
where the enemy's rifle-pits were thick above ; from these 
they kept a never-ceasing fire, hot and fast, on our boys 
as they approached. Several attempts to take it had been 
unsuccessful, but the Blues were determined to have the 
guns. They took breath, then made a rush, and succeeded 
in getting so close to the wall of the fortification that the 
guns could not be used against them, and they made sure 
they were not used at all by keeping a sharp lookout, and 
putting a bullet into any Gray who dared to show his head, 
while they were protected by the wall ; as one of them 
said, ^^ a regular dog in the manger affair, we could not 
fire the cannon, and would not let them fire them." Here 
they stayed for some time.-- Night came on, but have the 
guns they would. The Pioneer Corps came to their aid, 
and amid showers of bullets, which fell like hail, under- 
mined and broke in the sides of the fortification. The 
boys rushed in, fastened ropes to the gun carriages, and 
drew them out, while batteries on both sides sent shell and 
shot hurling through the night, making a noise I never 
heard equaled. 

The next morning it was discovered that the enemy had 
retreated and crossed the Oostanula. I stood on a hill 
later in the day and saw the troops of Generals Hooker's, 
Palmer's and Logan's divisions march into Resaca. 

We had lost many men ; hundreds of our maimed and 
dying lay in the valleys and along the mountains. Sev- 
eral of our generals were wounded, among them Generals 
Kilpatrick and Willeck ; but the enemy's loss was also 



ROCK V FA CE—RESA CA. 265 

great ; they had suffered both in officers and men. We 
had taken a thousand prisoners and had beaten Johnston, 
and this was compensation to the army for all. Early in 
the morning we were in pursuit. Our forces came up with 
the rebels at Adairsville and Cassville ; we drove them out, 
and for several days they ran and we followed, fighting. 
At length Johnston crossed the Etowah, burning the 
bridges after he had done with them. Our men lay at 
Cassville, Kingston and Rome, the latter a pretty place 
on the Etowah, near where the Coosa and Oostanula join 
and form the Etowah river. It is some seventy miles 
from Chattanooga. Here we made a halt to wait for 
supplies. The weather was bright, the country beauti- 
ful, large plantations and fine houses were scattered 
all along the banks of the river, but the owners 
had almost all run away. A few negro women and 
children alone were left in the great mansions. These 
had no fear of Linkum's men, but the white women 
shook with terror at our approach, believing we were 
capable of committing all kinds of atrocities, and would 
do so. 

I was glad to get into a country not quite so mountain- 
ous. We were only some eighty miles at farthest from 
Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, 
Pigeon Mountains, Chickamauga Hill, Taylor and White 
Oak Ridges, John's Mountain and other ridges or 
spurs lay between Kingston and the river at that 
point. 

We had a beautiful camp here, and I enjoyed every mo- 
ment of the halt. The men were in the wildest spirits. 
We had plenty to eat, poultry and fresh meat, potatoes, 
hot cakes and honey. The negroes were capital cooks, 
and after the day's work were ready to dance or sing, or 
hold meetings. The men lay round the camp fires, and 



266 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

joked and told stories, each trying to outdo the other in 
the wonderful adventures he related. Often the glare of 
some burning house, found deserted by its owners, and so 
considered rebel property and lawful spoil, added brill- 
iancy to the scene ; yet no one ever knew who applied 
the fire, for if inquiry was made there was profound 
ignorance on the subject. 

The first thing to be done, ere we could eat, drink and 
make merry, was to fortify ; this was always the next 
thing after a halt, even for the night. Each company 
made its own fortifications. 

The engineers drew the line, to mark where they w^ere 
to run, the men scattering all along it, as posts, to keep 
the boundary ; up hill and down dale, through swamps 
and over ravines. A detachment would start for rails ; 
logs, rocks, trees, anything that would help to resist bul- 
lets, would be brought in by cart loads. In fifteen min- 
utes the whole line would be bristling breast high ; oft- 
times trenches would be dug the entire length, the earth, 
thrown up between the sticks and stones, making a for- 
midable breastwork behind which, in the trenches, the boys 
lay at their ease, ready to fight the enemy should he ap- 
pear. I never knew the adage of " many hands make light 
work " so truly verified as I have seen it by an army 
fortifying. 

I took great delight in the cavalry. It was a grand sight 
to see Little Kil, or Generals Garrard, Wilder or Stan- 
ley start out on an expedition ; there was so much that 
was stirring and exciting in it, and they seemed so inter- 
ested and alive to everything. I knew several of them — 
among others. Captain Lester Taylor, of General Stanley's 
staff, another gallant Ohio boy. They were kept moving 
on this march, but enlivened the leisure time they some- 
times had in camp by races, which greatly excited and 



ROCKY FACE—RESACA, 267 

amused the men. While we were here on the Etowah, 
we had some fine races ; a regular course was laid out, and 
animals entered for each heat. 

I heard one man say to another at the track one day: 
'* I say, Jack, that horse makes almost as good time as the 
deer that scart you so the day you took the back track at 
Chickamauga." "With the captain ahead," said the 
one addressed, hitching up his trousers as he an- 
swered ; ^^ we were only trying to catch up with him, to 
play a game of marbles on his coat tails." This was the 
first I had heard of a frightened deer that broke 
through the disorganized ranks that day, terrifying the 
men. 

John and I had left camp early one morning and gone 
into Kingston. We were walking down the street when 
suddenly I was startled by the sound of a church bell 
pealing loudly quite near us. 

" What does that mean, John ? '' 

" It means that there is preaching in this church right 
before us, and we will go." 

As he finished speaking we saw a guard enter the church 
and come out, having in custody a man in his shirt sleeves 
without a hat, and wearing a pair of trousers which were 
much torn ; they marched him into General Sherman's 
quarters which were near. 

We took our seats in the church and waited some little 
time for the preacher. When he arrived I was astonished 
to see he was the person who had been walked off by the 
guard ; he gave us a fine sermon, and when the service 
was over we heard he had spent the morning cleaning the 
church and getting it ready for worship. In doing this 
he had torn his trousers ; then he had rung the bell, for 
which offense he had been taken to the general's quar- 
ters, as the general had forbidden all bell-ringing. When 



If 



268 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

he had informed the general it was Sunday, and he was 
ringing to let the soldiers know there was service, the 
general dismissed him saying, ** he was not aware it was 
the Sabbath." 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



KENESAW MOUNTAIN. 



ON the 23d of May we broke up our camp on the Etowah, 
and the whole army began to move towards Allatoona 
which was about twenty miles further South on the West- 
ern and iVtlantic Railroad. We had rested ourselves and 
received plenty of supplies, so all were in good humor, 
ready to scale the Allatoona Mountains if it was neces- 
sary to do so, in order to dislodge General Johnston who 
had possession of the Allatoona pass and was fortified 
there. We moved in a southwesterly direction, and if I 
had been asked our destination I should have named al- 
most any other place before iVllatoona. Indeed the 
movements of the army were generally Greek to me until 
John explained them. We usually took a wide sweep and 
pounced dow^n on the enemy when they thought us miles 
away. 

As soon as we had crossed the river and were fairly e?i 
route^ the fighting began and we fought all the time. 
Strange that I, who at home would have been horror- 
struck at the sight of a dead body covered with blood and 
wounds, here daily passed hundreds with scarcely a look. 

** The rebs have the best of it now up there in their 
nests in the mountains," I heard one man say, "but wait 
'till old Flanker gets on their track." 

All day long the men fought — skirmishing they called 
it, but it was all a battle to me, yet not a battle in order ; 
and at night when it was too dark to see to fight longer, 



^7o CAP TAIN PHIL. 

they would fortify and lie down to sleep. All kinds of 
reports reached one column respecting the other. Now 
one would assert that our advance was engaged — another 
that Hooker's column was having a hot time — a third that 
Thomas was in trouble at Burnt Hickory, etc. 

The country was not like that we had left behind. There 
were no fine houses and but few cultivated fields, but we 
passed through dense forests, thick with matted under- 
brush, and over rocky hills through the wilds of Georgia. 

There came news of the engagement at Pumpkin Vine 
Creek, where General Hooker's column was hotly pressed. 
Then that General McPherson had reached Dallas, below 
which the rebels were strongly intrenched. Here there 
was a battle, and for a little time General Sherman had 
his headquarters in the town. Next our cavalry under 
Generals Garrard and Stoneman took Allatoona pass, 
and the enemy departed in the night. We had fought 
round the Allatoona Mountains, and now we had to fight 
over and around Kenesaw and Lost Mountains, for Gen- 
eral Johnston was in position there, trying if possible to 
save Marietta. He was fortified south of the town, and 
his signal stations could be seen on the mountains, 
whose sides were bristling with cannon and crowded with 
men ready to meet us. 

Rain, rain, rain — such rain as I never saw anywhere 
else, had set in. The sky was like a dull sheet of lead 
and the driving stream came down without ceasing. 
Sleeping in pools at night, to spring up begrimed with dirt 
and mud in the morning, and shake the water from one 
like a wet dog, by way of making a toilet, was now the 

order of the day. I went with John and Colonel to 

see the deserted rebel works, which were indeed very 
strong. The pits and holes they had made in the 
hillsides were as thick as, and reminded me of, the bur- 



KENESA W MO UN TAIN, 2 7 1 

rows of prairie dogs. So the days went by ; we were in 
front of Kenesaw. There had been an attack upon our 
communications in our rear, and some of our supply 
trains had been captured, but we had plenty to eat for 
man and beast, and so far were all right. Our lines and 
the enemy's were not a quarter of a mile apart. 

One of our batteries sent a shell to the top of Pine 
Mountain and killed the rebel General Polk who was 
standing there with some others taking observations. 
The enemy had retired — or been driven rather — from 
Lost Mountain by General Hooker, and now were in 
force at Kenesaw, which they had fortified, and made 
impregnable. So General Sherman besieged Kenesaw. 

"You ole fool," said Jim, the captain's man, one day, 
shaking his head at the mountain, **you might as well 
have sum sens' like Davy Crocket's coon ; he seed his 
marster and comed down, and you've seed yourn." 

Kenesaw Mountain consists of two peaks, Big and Lit- 
tle Kenesaw. On the top of Big Kenesaw could be seen 
the rebel signal station, while their Bars floated from 
some works on the brow of the lesser mountain. Eight 
hundred feet high, and very steep, the peaks nearly joined 
at the top. The sides were covered with thick woods hav- 
ing a tangled undergrowth of dwarf -shrubs, where whole 
regiments could be sheltered. Almost every foot of it 
was fortified ; rifle pits and breast-works, and huge rocks, 
protected the foe ; there were batteries on the top, and 
felled trees and entrenchments at the base. It was only 
three miles from Marietta, and was considered the citadel 
of the town. Negroes had been employed for months on 
its defenses, and it was thought impossible that the Yan- 
kees could take it. For two weeks we lay around its 
base. We had Pine and Lost Mountains, but this was 
right in our path, so with fire and shot and shell we be- 



272 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

sieged it. We would attack a point, gain an advantage 
or lose one, then pause for a day or two, perhaps, to pick 
out some more assailable place. 

On the 24th, about six hundred conscripts from a camp 
near Marietta escaped, and came into our lines. They 
had a fight for it, and some two hundred of their number 
were killed and taken prisoners, but these others managed 
to get in. ** Tired of the war," they said, '' and did not 
want to fight." 

On the 27th General Sherman determined to attack 
the mountain, and it was done by General McPherson*s 
and General Thomas's commands. In this assault we 
were unsuccessful, and were driven back with great loss. 
Among the killed were General Harker and Colonel 
McCook. 

The next day there was a truce to bury the dead, that 
lay decaying on the neutral ground between the two 
armies in front of Generals Newton's and Davis's divisions. 
It was a strange sight to see the armies meet. There 
were two regiments from Kentucky, one Union and the 
other rebel. They rushed in among each other, shook 
hands, called each other their first names, '' Bill " and 
" Bob," inquired ^fter friends at home, and were appar- 
ently as friendly and kind as brothers meeting after a 
long absence. I heard one boy about my own age in- 
quire of a great six-foot Union soldier, " How the gov- 
ernor was?" then laugh at the way he had stolen his 
best horse and galloped off with Bragg. '' Tell him," he 
said, '' if you live to get home, that I am all right, and I 
wish he was, and give my love to mother." The work 
done, and the truce over, they returned to their lines, and 
we to ours, ready to take each other's lives at any moment. 

The next night an attack was made upon a working 
party sent out by General Davis to entrench. A large 



KENESA W MO UN TAIN. 2^2i 

force suddenly pounced upon them ; the fight became 
general along the whole line of that division, but they 
were repulsed, losing, it was said, some two hundred, 
while our loss was only five or six men. 

Our troops were again in motion. All night long on 
the ist and 2d of July was the army moving, turning 
completely round as quietly as possible in order to cross 
the Chattahoochie and get between Johnston and Atlanta. 
The rebels were wide awake, they saw what General Sher- 
man was after, and determined we should not cross the 
river before them ; so on the night of the 2d they did just 
what General Sherman wanted them to do, evacuated 
Kenesaw, and started for the river ahead of us. On the 
3d of July the Stars and Stripes waved from their strong- 
hold on the mountain, was carried to the town of Marietta, 
and shook its free folds in the breeze from the roof of 
the Kenesaw House — and in the hands of our men was 
still pursuing them toward the Chattahoochie River. 



18 



I! 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHIE. 

THERE we were at the beautiful town of Marietta, on 
the railroad, eleven miles from the Chattahoochie 
river. As I stopped at a well, nicely roofed over, in the 
public square, where some negroes were drawing water 
for our troops, I thought how I should like to have lived 
there. The houses were large, the gardens fine, and all 
looked as though they had been occupied by well-to-do 
people. The Kenesaw House fronted on the square ; it 
was a fine hotel, with a wide gallery running the whole 
length of it above and below. There were factories and 
a paper mill, and, outside of the town, on a little hill, was 
Marietta Military Academy, where General Sherman had 
once taught military tactics. 

" Arrah," said Pat, as he stood guard over the prisoners 
in the enclosure, " you were a stupid set. Jest to think, 
' Old Billy * himself taught you how to beat him, and you 
couldn't do it ! '' 

It was the ^^ Fourth of July," and I determined to have 
a good dinner to celebrate the day, so we sat down to 
fried chicken, sweet potatoes, honey, roast apples, a cup 
of coffee, and blackberries well powdered with sugar. 

Our troops were in pursuit towards the Chattahoochie, 
and the rebels were trying to keep them back until their 
wagons had crossed. There was a battle near Nickajack 
Creek, which somewhat hastened their movements. Our 
boys gained one bank of the river ere they had well 



CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHIE. 275 

reached the other. I had heard so much of the Chatta- 
hoochie that I was glad to see it ; everything seemed to 
depend upon our gaining and crossing it. Rebel prisoners 
at Chattanooga had scoffed at the idea of our reaching 
its banks, for then we should have Atlanta. The boys 
fairly shouted at sight of its waters ; even the weariest 
wished to push ahead and camp in the " Gate City," little 
dreaming of the long, hot days, red with blood, which must 
be passed ere the Stars and Stripes would float over Atlanta. 

We had a fine time resting while waiting for bridges 
to be laid and supply trains to come up. It was dread- 
fully warm, and we bathed, fished, and blackberried to 
our heart's content. The men had plenty of everything, 
even to new clothes, which some indulged in. 

" This is much better," I heard one say, "than eating 
steaks from Colonel Starkweather's horse, or devouring 
raw, green corn while we filled the ambulances." First 
we had to fortify, and when this was done we were ready 
to take our ease. Some of the men never finished forti- 
fying ; they tried to excel each other in making each indi- 
vidual position the strongest. They liked to have their 
work shapely and neat, too. I have seen men work for 
hours at their breast-works and intrenchments, and then 
sit down to smoke with their eyes on them. But presently 
they would knock the ashes out of their pipes and begin 
again, and pull down and put up, until they were satis- 
fied. Perhaps every day, while we occupied the trenches, 
they would add or take away something. This was only 
when there was plenty of time, though, and in places 
where we would hold the position for a season. When 
merely for a night tenantry, or in front of the enemy ex- 
pecting an attack, all that was thought of was to get the 
work done quickly and have it strong, the finishing 
touches were after considerations. 



276 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

While near here I saw a negro man have a narrow 
escape. He was making coffee and one of the men called 
to him from the trenches to bring him a cup. They had 
their earthworks pretty well done, and the shot and shell 
of the opposite party were falling fast, but passing some 
distance beyond where they were digging. The cooks had 
also raised a sort of fortification, in the shelter of which 
they broiled and fried, and they did not care to pass the 
open space over which the balls whizzed. 

Blacky expressed his fears that he might be hit. The 
soldier insisted on having his coffee, however, and called 
to him to dodge the bullets. 

At length, spurred by the laughing of those around him. 
Pomp seized the tin cup, and darted from under cover, 
the men hurrahing and cheering him on. He dodged a 
piece of shell that plowed the ground before him, and 
incited by the cheers which followed his escape, plunged 
forward, when the enemy's artillery opened and the 
shrapnel showered the iron rain by the pailful. A ball 
struck the cup he held, and Avith a yell he fell to the 
ground. All supposed him dead ; but after a few 
moments, when there was a lull, he started up and sprung 
in great leaps to the trenches, knocking a man down as 
he gained their edge. 

^^ Where's my coffee, you black rascal?" was his salu- 
tation from the man who had brought him into 
peril. 

" God knows, massa, and he won't tell. I tought dis 
nigger gone sure enuf ; tought my hole arm tored off — 
reckon youse not git any coffee dis time." 

There he stayed, and did good service, too ; neither 
threats nor persuasions could get him back to " Bummers* 
Roost " again. 

The weather was terribly warm, and it was impossible 



CROSSnVG THE CHATTAHOOCHIE, 277 

to make long marches had this been desired, for the men 
were very weary. 

The commissary wagons were dragging along slowly, 
bringing up the rations of the army, piles of bags of 
coff^ee, beans, etc., barrels of pork and crackers were 
accumulating. 

We heard all sorts of rumors from Atlanta. I saw the 
Atlanta Appeal one day, a newspaper John had borrowed 
from Colonel for a few m.oments, and it was rejoic- 
ing at our having reached the river, as it would be so easy 
to destroy us there. Prisoners told us if we got too near 
the citizens intended to burn the city ; that they were 
preparing for this by removing their valuables and families 
to a distance. 

Meantime we kept on our way. The men asked few 
questions. I heard one man say to another, who in- 
quired the cause of some movement, '^ I don't know. I 
made up my mind when I joined the army I must go it 
blind, and keep my mouth shut, and I do." 

Our pickets were posted along the north bank of the 
river, while the rebels were on the south. With no shade, 
in the hot sun, it was terribly warm, and pop, pop, would 
go the rifles if a man but showed a finger from behind 
his defenses. The men had to keep so close they were 
almost sick from the intense heat, and thought they must 
be sun-struck if it continued. The river was narrow at 
that point, and presently they heard, with secret delight, 
from the other side : ^* Halloo ! I say, Yank ! '* 

"Well, Johnny?" 

" Suppose we stop awhile, take a swim and have a talk, 
while we get some boughs for shade." 

"Agreed, Johnny, honor bright." 

"Honor bright it is." 

The time was fixed and the truce faithfully kept on 



278 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

both sides. In ten minutes after it was settled, Yanks 
and Johnnies were laughing, talking, and bathing together. 
Indeed, the pickets became so friendly, that finally they 
agreed not to fire at each other at all. 

Our cavalry took Roswell and laid a bridge over the 
river there. I heard a man telling of the destruction of 
the factories in that town. Some four or five hundred 
girls were employed in them, and it was their only means 
of subsistence. In a half hour they were laid waste and 
they had nowhere to get bread. ^' I don't know what 
they are to do," said he. ^*I suppose Government knows 
what it is about. It would not do to let them manufac- 
ture clothes and flour for the rebels ; but it looks mighty 
hard. Some of them were just the size of my own little 
girls at home ; they cried and wrung their hands, and 
lamented in a way that made my heart ache.'* 

The boys made a regular frolic of crossing the Chat- 
tahoochie ; some waded it where it was shallow, some took 
off their clothes and so crossed, while others — whole regi- 
ments — went through it in soldierly order, just as they 
marched through the streets. 

They laughed and joked, and threw water on each 
other, playing like children, dipping their heads in and 
shaking the streams from them like water dogs. 

The man known among us as the '^ Barometer " began 
singing '^On Jordan's stormy banks I stand," while we stood 
waiting for the word ^' forward," and as we reached the 
opposite bank he struck up, " We have passed over Jordan 
— Hallelujah," but his voice was lost in the music of 
the band which accompanied us across, and to which some 
of the men tried to dance in the middle of the river. 

On the 17th we left the Chattahoochie behind us, and 
pushed forward towards Atlanta. The rebel works near 
the river were the strongest we had yet seen, but we were 



CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHIE. 279 

told Atlanta was trebly fortified and impregnable. The 
different corps marched on different roads. The 4th 
was on the Roswell and Atlanta. General McPherson, 
accompanied by Garrard's cavalry, went towards Augusta. 
I always felt proud of Generals Kennar and Israel Gar- 
rard ; they to me looked and acted like true chevaliers. 
When I saw them I gave longer and louder shouts for 
the Ohio generals. 

I climbed a hill and had a view of ^' Our Mecca" as 
John called Atlanta, which was only six miles distant, 
and appeared right within our grasp. We kept on fight- 
ing at almost every step, and reached Peach Tree Creek, 
a stream which would be thought a considerable river in 
Europe ; it was deep and wide, and we had to wait for 
it to be bridged. General Johnston had been removed, 
and General Hood now commanded the rebels. We might 
be said to be besieging Atlanta, for our whole army was 
round it in a semicircle. On the 20th of July General 
Hood came out of his fortifications, and attacked us while 
near Peach Tree Creek. Part of the men were engaged 
making breast-works, when the pickets ran in — the enemy 
following close upon their heels. 

It was a bloody day. The rebels fought desperately, 
but at length were repulsed with great loss. I heard John 
say General Hooker's column was totally unprepared 
for it, but the men fought like heroes, and '^ The Head of 
the Family," for General Hooker called his corps " his 
family," had the dead piled in heaps on his front. 

The surgeons were busy, for the wounded were borne 
to their quarters in a continuous procession. It was 
dreadful to see the little streams of blood trickling down 
from the stretchers as they were carried along, always 
leaving a red track behind them. The next day there 
was but little fighting. We had taken hundreds of 



28o CAPTAIN PHIL, 

prisoners. Some of them were sullen, but almost all were 
disposed to make the best of the circumstances ; said they 
were glad they were taken, they were tired of the war, etc. 
Almost the first things they expressed a wish for were 
tobacco and coffee. In conversation they said ^' we had 
to go into it — we never believed you'ns would stand up to 
it so, or git so far down as the Chattahoochie." 

All my school-boy ideas of an army with bright uni- 
forms, gold lace, feathers, new and gay banners tossing 
in the wind, and looking as fresh as the fancy volunteer 
companies do at home, when they turn out on a holiday 
to show themselves for a few hours and be admired, were 
put to flight by the actual looks of men in service. In 
reality the soldiers* clothes were worn, faded, and torn, 
from marching through the hot sun and dust, and forcing 
their way through briers and underbrush, discolored from 
the rains that had beaten upon them, or the dampness of 
the ground, where they had made their beds. Their faces 
were bronzed, their hair and beard uncut, their shoes 
worn, — in many cases they were ragged, in some bare- 
foot. 

The officers, particularly the older ones, wore shabby 
uniforms, and were unshaven ; a white shirt was a luxury 
only worn on particular occasions. Yet the men bathed 
and washed and kept their bodies clean, and made ludi- 
crous attempts at hair cutting, and their arms were always 
bright and in good order. Indeed the veterans rather 
prided themselves on their worn appearance. They jeered 
at a new recruit, called him green, and informed him on 
his arrival, that a few months' service would take the 
''fancy " out of him. As for their colors, the more battle 
worn, ragged and jagged and bullet holed they were, the 
dearer they were to the hearts of the men. When, after 
a hard day's march, their tattered ensign blazoned with 



CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHIE. 281 

battles won was unfurled, I have seen them straighten 
their weary limbs, raise their drooping heads, and step out 
as erect and proud as so many kings. 

I heard a veteran color sergeant call to another who 
bore the bright colors of a new regiment : 

^* Take your knife and rip her up, man, and put a few 
shots through her. I would not walk under such a new rag 
as that — why you are blazoning to the whole army and the 
enemy, too, that you have never done anything for your 
country before." 

If our army so little resembled the army of my imagina- 
tion, still less did the enemy's look like it. To begin with 
their rank and file, I must say they were very inferior men 
to ours in all respects. Then they had been put to such 
straits, that in dress and accoutrements whole regiments 
looked like what we familiarly call "rag-tag and bobtail.** 
The officers were much more showily uniformed than with 
us ; they wore more tinsel and braiding and gold lace, but 
generally this was weather-beaten and tarnished, and did 
not present a very brilliant appearance. 

The affection the men had for their guns was curious. 
In one of the fights before Atlanta we recaptured the 
guns belonging to Captain Loomis's battery, and I saw an 
artilleryman go up to one of them, stoop down, look in 
its mouth, pat its sides, as gently as he would have patted 
a woman*s cheek ; I observed that they always spoke of 
them as " she " and " her." 

We were still in the neighborhood of Peach Tree Creek, 
when on the morning of the 2 2d General Hood again at- 
tacked us. He got into the rear of the Army of the Tennes- 
see and fell on our right, at a time when it was reported he 
had evacuated his works on our front. The attack was 
so sudden they were near defeating us, but our men fought 
dauntlessly and, in the enemy, had foemen worthy of 



« 



282 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

their steel. At length beneath the persevering courage of 
our army the rebels faltered — and, after a few moments, 
turned and fled. 

General McPherson was killed by a sharpshooter while 
reconnoitering in the early part of the day. General 
Logan took command, and McPherson's death was con- 
cealed from his men, for fear of its depressing influence 
on them. General McPherson was greatly beloved both 
by officers and army. They mourned him as a man and 
regretted him as a general. 

^^ Another Ohio general wounded," said John, coming 
to where we stood talking of General McPherson. ''' Gen- 
eral Force has, I hear, received a severe wound in the 
face and head, which, it is feared, will prove mortal, and 
Capt. Bryant Walker has been badly wounded in the leg." 

*^ They take our best," said Kiler. " Force is a good 
soldier, an excellent commander — gentlemanly — brave — 
and as cool in danger as if he had all his life been sea- 
soning in the service. I hear Captain Walker is one of our 
most talented and promising young men. His father was 
a great lawyer, and a liberal and true man. Ohio may well 
be proud of her sons." 

"You and I and John, for instance" — I said laughing. 
On Saturday we were burying the dead, which on account 
of the heat must be done quickly ; there was still some 
fighting going on. Atlanta was in a state of siege, and 
our works almost as strong as the enemy's. 

There was another battle on the afternoon of the 28th, 
principally with the Army of the Tennessee, commanded 
by General Howard, in which the rebels were beaten with 
great loss. John told me they had an Atlanta paper 
at headquarters, in which was the statement that, at the 
rate they had lost lately, the Confederate army would be 
annihilated in three weeks. 



^ 



.^ 



CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHIE. 283 

Our men fought without defenses ; for, having moved 
fiom their former position, they had not time to throw 
oth'^rs up before the attack, so had no breast-works save 
those they hastily pitched together in the pauses. The 
rebels had several generals wounded. 

This battle was called the battle of Ezra's Church, as it 
was fought in the woods round a country church of that 
name. A little creek ran near. The strife was severe on 
its banks ; the bodies fell into the stream, the blood red- 
dening its waters. This stream was called Dead Man's 
Creek. 

As soon as the assault ceased, and the rebels retired to 
their works, our men sallied out to bury their dead, who, 
with the wounded, literally covered the ground. 

They talked much of a soldier of the Forty-sixth Ohio 
regiment, named Davis. Brave and daring, he had de- 
termined to have a trophy of the fight, and so persistently 
hewed his way to the front rank of our army, and while 
the enemy's artillery rained shot and shell, stretched over 
the breastworks and seized the colors — of the Thirtieth 
Louisiana, I think — from the hand of the color sergeant, 
and unhurt bore it back in triumph. 

The August heats were now upon us ; still there was 
fighting of some sort each day. Our troops were moving, 
changing their position, and getting to the wxst and south 
of Atlanta. They had become dexterous in dodging shell 
and shot. A missile would be heard screeching through 
the air ; if it came their way they turned their heads, and 
if inconveniently near, would evade it, and call to their 
comrades to look out ; if otherwise, they kept on their 
course unheeding. 

It was a long time before I understood the difference be- 
tween the various kinds of shot. Canister is shot placed 
in a tin can or box in four rows, the box having iron 



284 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

plates top and bottom, and a handle. The spaces between 
the balls are filled with sawdust, and the case is made to fie* 
the gun from which it is to be projected. Howitzer can- 
ister has forty-eight balls, common canister twenty- 
seven. 

Shrapnel is a shell which varies in size, according to 
the gun in which it is used, sometimes containing one 
hundred and seventy-five musket balls, and again having 
but thirty-nine. When several batteries were going at 
once, I have seen the balls from shrapnel fall as thick as 
hail stones. The spaces between the balls in the shells 
are filled with sulphur, which is poured in hot, and when 
cool makes a compact mass, in which a hole is made for 
the powder necessary to explode the shell. It was in- 
vented by General Shrapnel, and is called by his name. 
Grape shot consists generally of nine balls in three layers 
between plates, having a pin running through the middle 
of the plates fastened with a nut at the top, and a handle 
across the v/hole. It is called grape shot from its sup- 
posed resemblance to a bunch of grapes. 

A shell is a thick iron globe filled with powder and ball. 

The siege continued until the last of August, when 
wagons and horses and all indispensable articles were 
sent back across the Chattahoochie with a large number 
of troops to guard them. 

The whole army, then, leaving the strong works that had 
been erected in front of Atlanta, moved round to the 
west and south, in the direction of ^^ Rough and Ready," 
Fairburn and Jonesboro', breaking up the West Point 
and Macon Railroad. 

General Sherman completely deceived the enemy. 
They supposed they had gained a victory, and that on find- 
ing we could not take their Avorks, we were running away 
from them. Our scouts told us there was great rejoicing 



CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHIE. 285 

in Atlanta ; that hundreds of citizens went out to see our 
old camps, laughing and jeering at the " Yankees." 

On the 31st they came up to and attacked the Army of 
the Tennessee, near Jonesboro', and were completely 
beaten. The slaughter was fearful. The battle was re- 
newed on the next day, the ist of September, and con- 
tinued until night. We drew up around Atlanta, and in 
the night the enemy retreated to Lovejoy's Station, some 
thirty miles below. Next day we followed them but they 
were strongly entrenched. We had what we wanted, At- 
lanta, and General Sherman thought it would not pay to 
molest them, so we marched slowly back, encamping some 
eight miles from the town. Through the night we were 
startled by frequent and loud explosions. It was Gen- 
eral Hood blowing up his ammunition, locomotives, cars, 
etc. The next day, September 2d, our army entered the 
*^ Gate City," and we moved to our camps. 

The boys could hardly realize that Atlanta was ours. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

BEFORE ATLANTA. 

OUR army being in camp around the city I prepared to 
see all that could be seen. John no longer required 
me to ask permission to go and come, unless it was on a 
dangerous expedition, or one which would take me to a 
distance. Kiler and I were great friends. I had been in 
all the late battles by his side, and he generally told me 
what was going on, if he knew. We heard some ludicrous 
stories of the consternation which prevailed when the 
rebels were evacuating the town, and sad ones also of the 
terror of the citizens, and their frenzied efforts to get 
away. The noise made by .the explosion of the ammuni- 
tion, with the glare from the flames of the burning cars, 
added to their fears of the " Yankees " dashing in among 
them every moment, almost took away their senses, and 
made them run about like insane people. 

" I cannot but think, Phil," said John, ^' how much they 
must have suffered, with night to add double horror to it 
all, and the women and children as innocent perhaps as 
our own at home." 

First of all I went to the scene of the explosion. Long 
rows of wheels told where the cars had stood, and were all 
that remained of nearly one hundred destroyed ; they were 
filled with ammunition stores, set in train one after the 
other, with the locomotives at the head, and thus blov/n 
up ; the chimney pipes of the latter were still standing, as 
were also some chimneys of the rolling mill which had 



BEFORE A TLANTA . 287 

slood near the track. No wonder there was such a din 
carrying destruction with it. 

Our shells had made sad havoc. I caw many houses 
which were torn to pieces by them, and others having 
windov^^s and doors shattered and great holes in their sides 
or roofs. Many stories were told of sudden deaths and 
marvelous escapes. Fear of the shells drove the women 
and children to the caves, which they had compelled their 
slaves to excavate with much time and labor. I went 
into several of them ; they were quite large, and dug deep 
in the earth, supported by beams and roofed with logs 
over which a hill of earth was raised ; the entrances were 
zigzag apertures ; some had ladders and trap doors. 

Taking their servants, chairs, tables, etc., whole 
families sought refuge in these places, for they were shell 
proof, and some remained there pursuing their usual oc- 
cupations. Many of the caves were in the gardens adjoin- 
ing the dwellings and were only used when the city was 
under heavy fire. When a brisk bombardment took place 
at night and continued, the female population and chil- 
dren, aroused from their slumbers^ could be seen retreating 
to these dens. Some families retired to their cellars, but 
these were considered unsafe, for should anything befall 
the house they were liable to be entombed alive, instances 
of which were known. 

I read the signs as I went along with great interest. I 
was known at home as a reader of signs, and although 
often laughed at for my inquiring mind, was frequently 
able to give needful information of places of business, etc., 
when asked. 

I remember the signs^ " J. J. Lynch," " Atlanta Hotel," 
"Washington Hall," "A. J. Witgenstine," *'' Atlanta Oil 
Factory," " Slave Auction " and on one shanty in rudely 
printed letters, " Niggers bought and sold here." These 



288 CAP'iaIiJ ?^^^' 

signs fascinated me; I gazed on them with a sort oi wonae"r. 
I had seen places placarded ^' horse auctions, cattle bought 
and sold here," and they were nicer in appearance than 
these slave markets. I had heard my mother tell of su'ch 
things, for she was a Southern woman, and had owned 
slaves. Before the war John had thought the Govern- 
ment had no right to meddle with this peculiar institution. 
It had been entailed on the South by those who had gone 
before ; but now what a revolution ! I saw the blood 
mount to his face at the sight of these human shambles. 

There were some very pretty houses in Atlanta ; they 
were cleaner in appearance, and the city had not the de- 
cayed, dilapidated look of most Southern towns. It was 
built during the past twenty years, having become a great 
railroad center. Almost all the dwellings had piazzas in 
front ; indeed this was a prominent feature in all Southern 
houses. General Sherman's headquarters was a hand- 
some house, with a broad piazza supported by columns, 
and surrounded by a garden. A sentinel stood at the 
gate beside the American flag. At least this was called 
his headquarters, but when I saw him he was sitting in a 
common little fly tent also called his quarters. There 
were some handsome buildings, the City Hall, several 
churches, a medical college, hotels, etc. 

I went to the jail, quite a large square building, where 
some prisoners were ; a '^ mixed set," as Private Jones 
who was with me remarked. There were gray -haired 
feeble old men, and boys of from ten to twelve years of 
age, who had helped to man the works. These works 
were a wonder to me ; we could never have taken them. 
The forts were surrounded by ckevaux-de-frise so strongly 
built that it would have been impossible for our men to 
have stormed and taken them under fire. 

There was a truce of ten days commencing on the 12th 




REFUGEES. 



BEFORE A TLANTA. 289 

of September. General Sherman had decided to burn the 
city, leaving only sufficient of it to make a military post. 
He issued an order that all citizens should depart either 
North or South in a given time. Those who wished to go 
North were assisted by Government, and their houses were 
protected. Those who went South took what they could 
with them, and that which remained was considered law- 
ful spoil by the soldiers ; being rebel property, it was con- 
fiscated. Rough and Ready, a station on the railroad 
just ten miles South of Atlanta was the place to which the 
rebels made their exodus. A detachment from each army 
was ordered to that point, and their lines designated. 
The rebel women and children, with their household 
goods, were sent there, and dropped between the lines, 
their friends meeting and receiving them with cheers and 
shouts. 

" The flitting " was one of the strangest sights I ever 
saw. Sidewalks and streets were filled with bedding, 
furniture, clothes, and crockery. I heard one young lady 
berating a negro girl for not taking care of her hoop. 
People ran here and there, searching for conveyances, 
wagons, carts, anything on wheels, which could take 
their things away. Children lay in the streets on beds, 
or were running under feet and getting hurt ; women, 
young and old, sat in chairs rocking themselves, in a sort 
of despair, or stood beside tables, or on portions of the 
sidewalk, keeping guard over their plates and dishes. 
Vehicles were being loaded, or were jostling each other 
in their passage ; men were swearing, children fighting, 
babies screaming. I saw several girls with pairs of 
chickens in their arms, trying to hold them until ready to 
start ; every now and then the chickens would flap and 
peck, and almost get away, when the young ladies would 
stoop down and secure them between their knees until 
19 



290 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

they could get a firmer hold, or dive in the crowd after 
them when they got loose. 

I was not feeling at all well, but I made the most of 
my time while our army was at Decatur and Eastpoint. I 
managed to get among them, and w^as back and forth all 
the while, and heard and saw much that was going on. 

When General Hood started for the Chattahoochie, 
thinking to cut our communications, and General Sher- 
man followed w^ith most of the army, leaving General 
Slocum in command at Atlanta, we had dull days — dull 
for me, for I was for several weeks sick with a fever. We 
had news of the victory at Allatoona, and of the enemy 
attacking the garrisons all along our line of march. 

I heard a veteran, with a wise shake of his head, say : 
" ^ Old Billy ' knows what he is about ; he is driving Hood 
out of his way, where others can take care of him ; but 
Hood don't know it." 

Next we heard of ^^ our boys " in Alabama having a 
good timic ; then, that Hood was over the Tennessee, and 
our army was back again. 

The first of November came, and the troops began to 
leave the line of the railroad and center at Atlanta. To 
my great joy I was well again , my illness had not been 
sufficient to send me to bed, only to make me good for 
nothing. 

There was talk of a great move. All sorts of surmises 
and rumors were afloat as to what was to be done next. 
The few people left in the city were making every effort 
to get away, for it was known that Atlanta was to be 
destroyed. All was bustle, confusion and preparation. 
A bomb was going to burst somewhere, but where, none 
could tell. Every night there w^as a fire, and many 
dwellings were destroyed. The troops who came in 
burnt up the towns in the rear, along their whole line of 



BEFORE ATLANTA. 291 

march, and tore up the railroad. It reminded me of the 
Spaniards burning their ships that they might have noth- 
ing to retreat to — they must go on or die. 

At last the order was given, Atlanta must burn. Found- 
ries, machine shops, factories, refineries, warehouses, de- 
pots, and stores were set on fire, and plundered while burn- 
ing. Everything that could add fuel to the fire was pitched 
in amid shrieks, jest and laughter, song and wild dance. 
At night you could see men bearing boxes and bales and 
throwing them into the flames. Here a group formed a 
ring, and with fantastic step danced around a bonfire 
made of Confederate stores ; there another stripped the 
house of a noted rebel, smashed his furniture, and threw 
the wrecks with the rest. 

So it went on, and amid it all the army passed on and 
out, into the very heart of the enemy's country, sur- 
rounded by the foe, with no succor near, and no de- 
pendence but on itself and Providence. Going about, 
seeing what this and that detachment were doing, I lost 
John and ^^ our company.'* I knew they were ordered 
on, but could not find them. I was sent first to one 
place, then to another, in answer to my inquiries, and 
came near getting into one or two fights, ov/ing to my 
persistency in insisting upon being answered. At last, 
when I was almost ready to give up, I happened to see 
our colonel, who directed me where to go, giving me two 
or three sharp words of reprimand for always straying, 
ordering me to keep closer to our company. 

In a couple of hours' time I found John, and went im- 
mediately to getting my things together ; but Jim, John's 
servant, had done this for me. John's orders were that I 
should always help myself. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

FROM ATLANTA TO SAVANNAH. 

A THRUST in the side capsized me as I stooped to 
strap my blanket closer, and the new order was 
shouted in my ear, *' All surplus servants, non-combatants 
and refugees should move to the rear." 

" I belong to the captain, and that order does not apply 
to me," v/as my retort, as I gathered myself up. 

*^ Is that so ! Then lend a hand here, my arm is not of 
much account since the hurt it got crossing the Chatta- 
hoochie. * Old Lightning ' is on the rampage, and means 
work by that order. I am ready for one, to follow where- 
soever he may lead. Halloo ! Snowball, what are you 
going to do with yourself ? " 

This last was addressed to Caesar, a negro who was 
passing, dragging one leg after him as he limped by. 

*^ Nuffin, Massa Kiler, I's jest gwyne along." 

*' You had better * tote ' some of this then ; " Kiler 
kicked at a box of hard tack. *^ I intend to live off the 
country, and good living I mean it shall be, you can bet 
on that. I hope we have plenty of salt along, Captaiii 
Phil ; the rebs are likely to be short of that article. 
There, shoulder this, you grinning monkey." 

He attempted to put a box on the black's back, but he 
slid from under, and it fell to the ground and broke open, 
the contents scattering around. 

** Yah, yah, yah, no, tank you, Massa Kiler ; dis nig- 
ger no tar his ole gums chawing dat stuff, when he knows 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA VANNAH, 293 

whar de sweet taters and t'odder good tings bees hid — 
dis chile need no dogs tu find dem." 

** They will find you before long, you hoary old sin- 
ner." 

" Dey gone done dat ready, sah. Look har now " — and 
he tore a bandage off his leg, and showed where a piece 
of the flesh had been taken out to the bone ; a terrible 
wound, inflamed and swollen. *' Dey scented me out, but 
de bit ob ole scythe I sharpened ob nights, and put a 
handle tu, went right down his froat. Yah, yah, he neber 
trouble nigger agin. Ole massa swore awful, when he 
found him best hound dead and dis chile off. Yah, yah." 

" The devil will have you yet if you don't take care of 
that leg." 

" Guess he won't git needer ob us 'fore our time, 
massa." 

" Off with you, but harkee : if I catch you treating an- 
other white child as you did that boy yesterday, I will 
take the pay out of your skin." 

" Dat's nuifin, Massa Kiler," with a look of astonish- 
ment and contempt ; " he's only poor white trash ; he 
can't do nuffin, and he don't know nuffin. Why, he won't 
eben sell like de nigger ; nobody giv nufnn for him, he's 
no account nohow." 

"Off with you, I say, you black rascal you ! What do 
you mean by talking of white people in that way ? " 

He aimed a blow at him which the black dexterously 
dodged ; then, drawing nearer, he said in a low tone, with 
a knowing leer and expressive gesture : 

" Plenty ob poor white trash in this army, tu ; dis nig- 
ger knows quality when he sees 'em — dis chile 'customed 
tu lib wid 'stocracy — dem low Irish and mean whites neber 
used tu nuffin. Caesar knows dat — all de poor white 
trash not Souf." 



294 CAPTAIN- PHIL, 

'^ You had better hold your tongue, or you will get a 
bullet through that wool of yours.*' 

" Yah, tink, massa, a nigger don't know what folks tu 
talk tu — quiet as a mole tu dem ! Youse better be a nig- 
ger slabe, Massa Kiler, ef youse want tu larn tu keep a 
still tongue b'tween your teef." 

^^Well, Captain Phil," said Kiler, as Caesar left us with 
a leer in his eye, and his finger behind his nose, ^^I hope 
the negroes will all get their freedom* I did not wish it 
when the war began, though, but I want them kept away 
from me. What a profound contempt they have for the 
poor whites, and no wonder ; there is nothing like them 
to be found East or West, save in the slave states. 
I have often been surprised at my mother's description of 
the North Carolina clay eaters, whom she had been 
among in her youth, but these ^ no-account poor white 
trash,' as the negroes call them, living in such a Goshen 
as this, beat all." 

^' There — I am ready for the word — weary of destroy- 
ing and seeing destroyed to-day ; besides my arm pains 
dreadfully. Let us go over there a little out of the din 
and smoke and sit down. I wonder if I shall ever be able 
to do anything away from the rat-tat-tat of that drum." 

John was busy somewhere, so Kiler and I went aside 
and waited for John's word of command. 

^' Yes," said Kiler when we had seated ourselves, " the 
negroes understand character ; they have been obliged to 
study their masters ; but these poor whites ! I was at 
some distance from the column one day, when we were in 
the neighborhood of Marietta, and came upon a miserable 
shed, not much larger than our great pig-sties at home, 
and not half so well built, nor so clean. Well, this shed 
was the home of nine human beings, who were all hang- 
ing over the fence in front of it as I came in sight, and 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA V ANN AH, 2% 

Stared at me as I approached, half in wonder, half in fear, 
their rags literally fluttering in the breeze. 

'^ I stepped up and spoke to them. They continued tc 
stare for several minutes without answering ; finally the 
old woman among them said: 

'' ' You bees a Yank, been't you ? ' 

^* I replied that I was. 

'* Then she wanted to know, ' Ef thar bees any critter 
soldiers coming this way ? Wes uns was afeard of crit- 
ter soldiers/ 

'' The dull sound of our column moving on the roads 
could be distinctly heard. 

" I replied they v/ere passing on. 

^' I tried to enter into conversation, and found none of 
them could either read or write. The father and their 
oldest brother were in the army, but they had not heard 
from them for eighteen months. They lived as they 
could, and seemed half starved- Three of them were 
girls between sixteen and twenty, with yellow matted hair 
which hung in strands about their clayey faces, begrimed 
with dirt. They talked in a drawling tone, with the usual 
number of w's and r's in every third or fourth word. As 
I took my pipe from my mouth to speak to them, and 
whiffed the smoke aside, the old woman snuffed it in such 
an eager, hungry way, that I drew the remainder of the 
paper of tobacco from my pocket and gave it to her. She 
snatched eagerly at it, hugged it to her breast, and started 
on a trot for the shanty, followed by the three oldest girls 
and myself, for I was curious to see the inside of that 
dwelling. She had already filled her pipe, and was on 
her knees at the tumble-down fireplace, trying to blow a 
coal into life, at the same time shoving back and keeping 
off the girls, who were making efforts to get at the paper 
tightly clutched in her old hand. I looked round while 



296 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

I questioned the mother, for the old woman was the 
granny. 

'' A rickety pine table, and a half-dozen sections of sawed 
logs, about a foot in height, were all the furniture. On 
one side of the room were two ledges, raised about a foot 
and a half from the floor, and filled with straw and dirty 
rags, which served as beds, in one of which a starving dog 
lay sleeping. Two or three pewter plates and a broken 
iron pot was all the house contained. 

" Baffled in her attempt to get at the tobacco, the eldest 
girl went to the wall, and from one of the chinks took a 
slender stick with a piece of dirty rag wound around one 
end ; this she put into her mouth, when another 
girl ran up and claimed it ; they tussled for its pos- 
session, the struggle ending in the elder seeing and 
seizing another dip, which was also between the chinks, 
then both dropped on the clay floor, rubbed and stared 
at me. 

*^ The mother, with whom I was talking, chewed and 
expectorated like a man. She told me they had not seen 
tobacco for months, but used the leaves of a vine found 
in the woods in its place. The clay floor was worn in 
ruts and hollows by the rain, and covered with refuse of 
all sorts, among which a yellow cur was snuffing and 
scratching ; a stench came from the room that was almost 
unbearable ; the bare knees of the girls protruded from 
their clothes as they sat on the floor, and the woman who 
stood beside me had her nakedness hardly covered ; their 
dirt was only equaled by their ignorance. They believed 
the most monstrous stories of us, even asked ^ if Linkin 
wasn't a nigger/ Glad to get outside, I left the cabin, 
followed by them all, and when I looked back after I had 
gone a few rods, saw them hanging over the fence just as 
I had found them/' 



FROM ATLANTA TO SAVANNAH. 297 

" You came near paying dear for that visit," said Jones, 
who had come up a few minutes before. 

'^ Yes, it cured me of straggling ; I came within one of 
capture." 

" How ? " I asked. 

" I had hardly got out of sight when some rebel cavalry 
reached the place, and they told of my visit. I heard them 
after me and hid." 

"The nigger does it," said Jones. "The rich have 
their slaves, and they are taught to make and mend, as 
well as sow and reap ; why, some of the niggers on 
the sugar and rice plantations are splendid mechanics. 
There is our colonel's man ; now he is a great deal better 
millwright than I am, although I was raised to it. The 
planters, who never lived by the sweat of their brows, 
think hard work ^ nigger's ' work, and despise a white 
man who does it, and call him a mudsill — a good name 
for these yellow, clayey looking people. They won't employ 
them, because their niggers save them the expense. The 
poor whites think it's a disgrace, and even if they were not 
too prcud, never have a chance to work beside the nigger. 
The rich hate them because they are poor, and the niggers 
hate them because they are white, ignorant, and more of 
slaves than they are. Hark ! what is that ? hear how the 
boys yell ! they have come upon something." He listened a 
moment, then remarked : " They will not leave much in 
Atlanta." 

" It seems to me the poor white women do all the work 
that is done," I said, as Jones seated himself again. 

" There are no men now to do it, Captain Phil ; but 
you are right ; the men lie about, or ride about if they 
can get a horse, chew, smoke, swear, and do nothing, so 
are ready for any deviltry that turns up. The women 
must do the work, if it is done, and a mother won't let her 



298 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

child starve. Besides, such womenkind like a man the 
better the less he does for them ; they think he is a kind 
of lord, then, and a little above them. I tell you what it 
is, let alone the country, the right, and all that, I would 
not have missed this campaign for a snug little for- 
tune. Wait until it is over ; the plodding Yankee and 
thrifty Western man, to whom this whole country will be 
open, and who had never dreamed of its richness, will 
buy, and possess and work it, until it will become a sec- 
ond Eden.'* 

^' Yes, Jones ; I believe it is a part of their punishment 
that their fair inheritance is to pass from them. They 
will no longer be Southern men, on Southern soil ; the 
despised Northern mudsill will go in when the negro goes 
out. Look at Tennessee ! she has everything in her bor- 
ders to make her great, but energy, and we will furnish 
her that. This whole — " Kiler paused. 

^^ Fall in — forward there." 

We sprung to our feet and were soon in our places, 
ready for our " grand promenade " through Georgia. 

It was the fifteenth of November. Atlanta was behind 
us in flames. The men had permission to take what they 
wished before the fire seized it. With shout and hurrah 
they darted to and fro, loaded like pack horses, with 
things they could not possibly take on a march. The con- 
fusion was such, I thought at one time they had got into 
a fight among themselves ; explosion followed explosion, 
and yells rang on the lurid air. 

Amid it all we marched slowly out, the band playing 
and the men singing and shouting. I wish I could 
describe it, but I cannot. John's company was among 
the last which left that evening, and it was night when we 
turned our faces from Atlanta, whither we did not know. 
The day had been clear and warm, but smoke and flame 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA VAN N AH. 299 

filled the atmosphere and almost stifled us. As the sun 
set red and angry amid this black pall, the noises of the 
city we were leaving in its ruins behind us mingled with 
the music of the bands. The rat-tat-tat of the drums, the 
yells and shouts of the soldiers, who had left and were 
burning houses and fences in front, dancing, jumping, 
leaping in their wild joy at the onward move, the cries of 
the teamsters to their mules, the heavy tramp of the 
column, the clatter of horses ; all went to make up a 
sound that almost deafened us. 

As it grew later, and the stars peeped out, and all was so 
still and beautiful in the heavens, you could trace one 
long line far ahead by the fires marking its path. Then 
the men began to weary ; the march was quieter, the 
tramp, tramp, tramp more distinct, and in the frequent 
halts, caused by the stalling of the wagon trains, they sat 
upon the ground and slept, or leaned upon their arms, 
talkmg or joking, in a more subdued way. Occasionally 
a restless spirit would call to the band, which could not 
hear : ^^ Give us the * Wandering Jew,' that fellow that's 
always ^ marching on,' " and somebody else would start up, 
** Wait for the wagon." 

Where were we bound ? None knew, few cared, so that 
it was to victory. I heard one veteran declare, " the Ocean 
would bring us up ;" another, " that we would see sights 
between this and the Gulf ;" while a third insisted, ''' Au- 
gusta was our goal." All had as much faith as the negroes, 
who invariably, when they heard these speculations, shook 
their heads wisely with : '^ Git along now, Massa Sherman 
know what he 'bout ; jest trabel on." 

Almost all the black skins, finding they would not be 
permitted to accompany us, had set their faces North from 
Kingston and Atlanta towards '' God's country," afraid to 
remain after we had left. Those with us were such as 



300 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

were employed as servants, and a few others who man- 
aged to hang on despite orders to the contrary. There 
was little sleep that night. The remainder of the army 
was to follow next day. The weather was beautiful, the 
road good, the country fine. Should I live to be as old as 
Methuselah, I shall never forget that campaign. It was 
something to live for, something, John said, to tell of 
winter nights to my grandchildren. On we crept ; now 
waiting the movement of the supply trains which had the 
road, and catching a little sleep as we might until daylight 
came, and we could take rest, which we did, dropping 
right down where we were. 

The country appeared almost uninhabited. We saw 
no enemy, the houses we passed were deserted, and con- 
sequently were fired as soon as reached ; indeed, so many 
dwellings were burnt in our course that, should the panic- 
stricken people return, they would have nowhere to lay 
their heads. 

Out of Atlanta — but we did not feel fully started until 
the sixteenth, when, between seven and eight in the morn- 
ing, we again took the road. Passing through one or two 
villages, we destroyed the railroad depots and tore up the 
tracks, seizing everything eatable that came within our 
reach. The boys were certain they were "" bound for 
Augusta." 

On Friday, November i8th, we reached Rutledge, a 
town on the railroad, in the midst of a beautiful and fertile 
country. Here the men foraged to their heart's content. 
Many negroes had joined us and eagerly gave information 
where horses, mules and valuables were hidden. Parties 
went out in all directions and returned laden with luxuries 
as well as necessaries. I saw a stalwart fellow with a tin 
kettle slung over one shoulder filled with honey, a couple 
of live geese over the other, a young porker squeal- 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA V ANN AH, 301 

ing and kicking on his back, and his pockets bulging with 
all kinds of green vegetables. 

John had lost his horse and was riding a miserable ani- 
maJ ; a grinning black came up to him. 

" Marcy, massa, I tell yuse whar yuse git a finer critter 
than that ar nag yuse on — I helped to hide dem myself, I 
did." 

We went with him to a little thicket in a hollow and 
found picketed, with plenty of food to keep them quiet, 
two beautiful animals, a black and a gray, of which we 
took undisturbed possession. 

" VVeVe cleaned out this country," said Kiler ; ^^ the 
rebs will know the Yanks have been about. That pile 
of brush over yonder looks suspicious though." 

He made great strides towards it, followed by several 
others, plunging his bayonet into what appeared to be the 
clearings of the field brush, cornstalks, etc., piled in a 
stack ; a great bellowing followed. The rubbish was 
thrown aside, a thong cut, and a fine cow and calf ap- 
peared. 

''' Milk for our coffee, boys ; you drive her ahead while 
I put fire to the stuff." 

Across some fields came a family of blacks, the mother 
tottering under the weight of an immense bundle she car- 
ried on her head, while several small children hung to her 
skirts, dressed in the one dirty garment universal with 
black children of this class and age in the South. With 
their whole attention upon the soldiers, every now and 
then one or another of the small ones would stumble over 
the stubble and fall, nearly pulling the mother down ; 
then she would stoop and aim a blow at the youngster, 
which it almost invariably dexterously dodged. 

When they reached the place where we stood, I saw that 
the huge bundle was a feather bed, tied up in a ragged 



302 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

quilt, protruding from which was a bonnet and several 
pieces of bright finery. 

^'Dar/' she dropped the bed on the earth, seated her- 
self upon it, and wiped her face with the skirt of her 
dress. '^ Dat*s safe, any how. Stan' back, got no man- 
ners tu git afore de gemmen dat ere way," she thrust one 
of the boys behind her. 

^'What are you going to do wdth it, aunty?'' asked 
Kiler. 

" Jest tote it along." She laughed and shook her 
head, ^^ Miss Fanny guv me de goose afore she was mar- 
rid, 'cause she done b'lieve 'twas gwyne tu die ; I put 
it in my bed and nussed it, and when it git well I sot it 
on de eggs ; got fifteen young goslings, den she swar 
Chloe stole 'em. Keep de feathers till git enough ter 
make dis bed ; not gwyne to left it 'hind for nudder nig- 
ger. Ketch dis weasel asleep." 

'^ Where are you going ? " 

" Don't know, massa, reckon yuse do ; least ways, I jist 
kitch on, any how." 

There was a pretty-looking girl, almost white, dressed 
up evidently in stolen finery. 

'^ Look there," said Kiler. "" It reminds me of the 
Israelites borrowing from the Egyptians when they made 
their exodus." 

^^ It is almost a parallel in history. The Southerners 
are the taskmasters, who feel to the negroes as the Egyp- 
tians felt to the Jews," said John. 

Colonel F — had a couple of fine blooded horses, and 

his man Harry, a good-looking negro, black and shiny, 
dressed in the blue, with the smallest of military caps set 
on the top of his glossy wool, rode one of them. White and 
black took him for an officer. It was amusing to hear 
the comments of the form.er as they pointed him out to 



FROM A TLAXTA TO SA VANNAH, 303 

each other. The indignation and scorn with which they 
spoke of the mudsill Yankees, led by a nigger, was only 
equaled by the admiration with which the negroes gazed 
upon him as, pompous and full of airs, he curveted his 
horse among them, ordering them out of the way. 

I went out with a foraging party some six or eight miles 
from the column, to the home of a rich planter, who had 
fled at our approach. As we made our appearance the 
negroes left everything, and stood to gaze at us, trying to 
hide their delight. The white women and children came 
out upon the gallery, and when the oflicer in command 
rode up, scowled upon him, and the women haughtily de- 
manded what he wanted. 

^' Everything, madame," was the reply, as he raised his 
hat in salutation, while the boys proceeded to help them- 
selves from barns and outhouses. 

No whit alarmed, the women used their tongues 
briskly and cuttingly. Two of them were very handsome, 
although dressed in homespun. 

^^ See," said the youngest of these, taking hold of her 
coarse dress with her white, dainty lingers, '' to what your 
rapacity has already reduced a Southern lady." " Don't, 
Maria," the other interrupted, with the utmost contempt 
in her voice, '^ he cannot understand. His women are ac- 
customed to nothing better." Taking the children by 
the hand, they swept into the house and up stairs. 

^' I did not intend to enter the dwelling," said the offi- 
cer, with a flushed cheek, ^* but if they will let their 
tongues wag, they shall pay for it." So saying, followed 
by some dozen others, he stalked through the wide hall 
into the dining-room, and summoning the cook there, or- 
dered her to prepare a good dinner. 

Black as jet, the cook stood twisting a rag in her hands, 
while he gave his commands ; a broad smile broke over her 



304 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

face as he said : ^' See that the meal is of the best the 
house affords, and let it be well cooked and well set, and, 
harkee, be careful that I do not have to search for what 
we want." 

We took possession of the house below, but did not 
venture above stairs, where the ladies and children were. 
We sauntered through the rooms, examined the furniture 
and ornaments, and opened the book cases, and looked at 
the books. The floors were covered with Brussels carpets, 
pictures hung upon the walls, and in one room there was 
a marble bust and a grand piano. The latter Lieutenant 

B opened, and played and sang "' Yankee Doodle " 

and " Hail Columbia," etc., with spirit. 

After looking at everything, we went out on the gal- 
lery, as they call the porches about Southern houses, 
and the men smoked. 

After a while we were called to our meal. The table 
was nicely set, and there were fried chicken, hot biscuits, 
corn bread, honey and molasses upon it in abundance. 
We enjoyed everything hugely, then quit the premises, 
leaving things inside the house just as we found them. 
Outside the place was stripped of everything ; the cotton 
gin and a lot of cotton, out-houses, fodder, and fences, 
burnt, the stock driven off, the hogs and sheep slaugh- 
tered, geese, ducks, and hens appropriated. Now squads 
of men were driving into thickets and wandering round 
emptying the sweet potato caches^ corn cribs, etc., and 
searching for hidden treasures. I could scarcely believe 
my senses that in one short hour a prosperous plantation 
could be made such a smoking, barren waste. 

As we crossed the barn-yard, a fine-looking mulatto 
stood by the remains of a corn stack, moving the blades 
about with his feet. He turned his back to us and faced 
the house as we neared him, and busied himself tying 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA VANNAH 305 

straw in a wisp, at the same time saying : ^' Better look 
under de gal'ry, massa ; house sarvants know, but they 
*ceitful ; dese niggers try tu git wid yuse tu-night. Massa 
tell de sentry not to fire on de poor black folks." Then with 
the same look and manner, he walked toward the house, 
stopping every few minutes, as if intent on tying the straw. 

We took up our line of march for the column, driving 
the stock before us, almost every man with a living neck- 
lace strung about him, or adorning his bayonet. Along 
they went, cracking jokes and picking their poultry on the 
road, green garden stuff protruding from their pockets. 
Not a blade of anything had been left, as the place was 
known to belong to a noted rebel. 

Passing down the fine avenue we saw the ladies at the 
windows, and pausing made them a low bow, which I 
need hardly say was not returned. 

When a little distance from the house, numbers of the 
field hands started up where they had hid themselves, and 
accompanied us on the road, singing, dancing, and shout- 
ing ^^ We bees guying along too." They kept up for a good 
way, then we lost them ; but the next morning I recog- 
nized most of them in camp. 

Having finished Rutledge, we kept on our march, camp- 
ing near Madison that evening. We visited it next morn- 
ing, and literally sacked it. When we entered, the boys 
had already broken into stores, appropriating and scatter- 
ing their contents in all directions. John had advised 
me to keep out of this sort of thing, but I could not resist 
the fun, particularly when I saw Kiler foremost in it. So 
I plunged into the midst of them. " Good for you, cap- 
tain," yelled one of us, as he wrapped me in a mantilla, 
and put a cap on my head. I was soon decked in all 
sorts of finery, and emulating the rest, began throwing 
things to the winds. 



3o6 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

'^ There are some neckties, Joe," and a parcel of bright 
ribbons were sent over our heads. " Some skeeter net for 
you," and pieces of lace were cast under foot. Men 
strutted round dressed in bonnets and scarfs, trailing bits 
of finery after them, and with their affected airs making 
the lookers-on roar with laughter. 

I saw one chap with a bonnet on wrong side before, 
and any quantity of women's wear on his person. He 
had a big syringe he had seized from some shop, with 
which he went round squirting upon the crowd. Another 
had strapped himself in a harness, and wore a string of 
onions for a necklace, and an earthenware pot for a hat, 
while a number of bright tins hung down his back. A 
third went about with an armful of brooms, with which 
he swept all he met in the face, and sang loudly, ^* Buy a 
broom ; buy a broom." They threw crockery at each 
other, dusted each other with salt, sugar, and flour, until 
there was nothing left to put a hand to ; then they seized 
the letters which had been cast forth from the Post-office, 
and in merry mockery read aloud their contents. 

One man stood on a horse-block reading aloud a letter 
from a soldier in the rebel army to his sweetheart. I 
laughed until I felt weak, and the men shouted. It was a 
funny letter, and he had a very comical way of drawing 
down his face, and putting his cap in his eyes at the 
pathetic parts. 

At length we were ordered out, and took the road to 
Eatonton, the men dancing, singing, and shouting, while 
the bands played their merriest tunes. As usual, we left 
flame and destruction behind us. The negroes joined us 
by hundreds in a day, bringing their best clothes with 
them. The men were willing to lend a hand to anything, 
and took the curses and hard words of the soldiers in 
good part. One of them said to Kiler ; " Yuse like my 




SACKING OF MADISON. 



FROM A TLAiVTA TO SA VANNAH. 307 

old dog, massa ; mighty good to bark and scar folks ; but 
yuse got no teef, yuse can't bite." They knew the boys 
were their best friends, always ready in a rough way to do 
them a kindness. 

We had some "" falling " weather now. It began to 
rain, the air was cold and penetrating, and the negroes 
felt it. Their voices were less frequently heard, but they 
trudged steadily along. 

Among the groups who kept particularly close, was 
one in which was a girl of about twenty, with very black 
wool, thick lips and broad nostrils, but extremely thin and 
scrawny, with that ashy look a sick negro always has. 
Evidently she had but little strength, yet she managed to 
keep up, although appearing anxious and worn. The 
change in the weather made her cough, her head drooped, 
and she kept one hand on her back. 

John observed her hanging on one of the wagons, and 
asked her mother what was the matter with her. 

" She's allys mighty poorly, sah, has de mis'ry in her 
back, pears like she could hardly git along." 

One of the teamsters was ungearing a broken-down 
mule to put c^nother in its place, and drawing her atten- 
tion to it, John told her she might have it. A good- 
hearted fellow, who heard what was said, called out, *' I 
will fix it for her, captain." In a few minutes he had 
twisted her a kind of bridle, given her a blanket to put 
around her, and she was seated on the animal's back. It 
did her small service, however, for she fell from it, and 
was drowned at the crossing of the Oconee. 

The country we were passing through was beautiful, 
but the towns were no more like the towns I had been 
accustomed to see than the people were like our people. 
The buildings looked old and tumble-down ; almost all of 
them were frame, and appeared to have been painted but 



308 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

once, some of them not at all. Things seemed to be 
broken and never mended ; made, never repaired. The 
people, even those who lived in fine houses, and had lands 
and negroes, were more ignorant than any people I had 
ever seen. 

At one of the plantations, a woman who owned scores 
of slaves asked me, '^ Ef that was the Yanks critter com- 
pany passing by ; she had hearn they bees coming ? " Well 
might the ^' boys '' call this the ^^ dark region," Egypt, etc. 

The soldiers had no mercy on the plantation owners, 
but, as far as I saw, wxre generally kind to the " shiftless, 
no account, poor white trash." When they plundered a 
town they would let them have a share with the negro, 
and on the road I have often seen them give the half- 
starved children their rations. 

Every night when we halted John and I talked over the 
day, what we had seen and heard. So far we had had no 
fighting and had advanced without molestation. ^^ It is 
dreadful, Phil," said John, " but it is the fortune of war. 
My heart aches for the helpless children ; all this misery 
from wrong doing, Phil." 

As we neared i\Iilledgeville the rain ceased, and the 
roads, w^hich had been slippery and wet, quickly dried. 
Foraging parties, which the men called the ^' locusts," 
went out and returned with everything eatable the coun- 
try afforded ; we reveled in sorghum, molasses, butter, 
fresh bread, beef, mutton, poultry, sweet potatoes, honey, 
peanuts. Fresh horses and mules were driven in in great 
numbers by the " mule brigade." 

The capital was formally surrendered to us, and the 
Stars and Stripes planted on the State House. The band 
played national airs, during which performance I saw one 
lady stick her fingers in her ears. Those who could, wan- 
dered round, seeking what they mnght lawfully devour, 



FROM A TLAXTA TO SA VANNAH, 309 

for it was strictly forbidden to enter dwellings or destroy 
private property. AVe remained one day at the rebel 
capital. Some of the boys had the run of the State 
House ; they poked among the books, and captured lots 
of Confederate money, which they pocketed as trophies. 
They fired the penitentiary and some other buildings, 
foraged the country far and near, getting the usual 
amount of good things, including some silver which had 
been buried for safety, then we crossed the Oconee, and 
betook ourselves in the direction of Sandersville. I had 
been sick two days, and lost all this, but now was as 
bright and well as ever. 

Our army of contrabands steadily increased. It was 
useless trying to keep them in the rear, they crowded 
between the wagons, before, behind, everywhere, and 
were only kept back by the bayonet. The men for amuse- 
ment would tell them terrible stories of what they in- 
tended to do with them, at which they only shook their 
heads and laughed, or uttered some odd joke. Trudging 
on to liberty without a shoe or stocking to their feet, with 
but little to wear and nothing to eat but what the soldiers 
gave them, they evidently thought themselves much bet- 
ter off than the ^^ poor whites," whom they despised and 
pitied. Every night during the journey the religious 
darkies held their meetings, prayed, exhorted, sang, 
shouted, told their experiences and blessed God for de- 
livering them from bondage. They were mostly Method- 
ists. ** Massa Linkum " was particularly mentioned in 
their prayers, and the Yankee army supplicated for with 
agony and tears. Some of their petitions were very 
touching, although they would ask God '' to give Massa 
Linkum a tin cup full ob bressings — bress him from de 
crown ob his head to de sole ob him foot." One of their 
favorite hymns was : 



Il 



II 



310 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

** Jesus up ter heben hab gwyne, 

I'm mos' dar ; 
Bids de pilgrims follow on, 

I'm mos' dar, 
Ole companions far' you well, 
Hobbling down ter def and hell — 
I wid Jesus Christ ter dwell — 

I'm mos' dar. 
No more sorrow, no more sin, 

I'm mos' dar. 
Come, my Jesus, let me in, 

I'm mos' dar. 
O ! de angels bright as day, 
Welcome, brudder, hear them say, 
Glory ! glory ! cl'ar de way, 

I'm mos' dar." 

A ring of soldiers always surrounded these meetings, 
and they sometimes joined in the singing. Often one of 
the **brudders " would start up and clap his hands and 
shout " Glory ! glory! glory! Massa Sherman habcome," 
whereupon the whole assembly would go almost wild. 

The officers said the world had never before seen any- 
thing like the sight our camp presented at night. These 
poor creatures, particularly the women and children, who 
had tramped all day, keeping up with the column, were 
at night ever ready for worship or jollity. Getting a 
violin they would play, sing, and dance, with soul and 
effect, to the great gratification of the crowds looking on. 
** Mars'r had a big black cat. 

Go in, go in. 
Mars'r had a fine wool hat; 

Go in, go in. 
Darkey hab some 'possum fat, 

Next go in. 
Yellow gal as sweet as honey, 

Go in, go in, 
Nigger do de work, and mars'r spend de money, 
Next go in.'* 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA V ANN AH. 311 

While singing this they would caper, slap their sides, 
and- shake their heads in the most comical way. Those 
who were too old to dance sat on the ground and kept 
time with their knees, knocking them together, while the 
lookers on slapped each other on the backs in chorus. 

We were now in a different country, traveling through 
the ^^ grand old woods." Our route lay amid the pine 
forests ; great tall trees growing like the cocoanut tree, 
with high straight shafts, surrounded with a coronal of 
green leaves. In and out, in and out, we wound, our 
line of march nearly eight miles ; and ever far ahead 
and far behind could be seen the dark coats and 
the white wagons winding beneath the trees. I told John 
it made me think of *^ Thanatopsis," which I had recited 
at a school exhibition just before the war broke out. He 
smiled and bade me repeat it for him, which I did, and 
he enjoyed it also. 

I often went to the rear to see the blacks, for, force or 
drive them back as we would, they came up in a little 
while all the stronger. Hourly they received reinforce- 
ments, and had really got to be an army of themselves. 
Officers told them they must wait, we would come again, 
there was no subsistence for them, etc. They shook their 
heads and still came on, feeling perhaps that the denial 
was not heartily given, only considered necessary. 

Passing a large plantation, the negroes told of the dogs 
kept by the owner which were a terror to the blacks for 
many miles around. The boys had killed every dog on 
the route, mongrel curs suffering with the pure of blood. 

Hearing of their v/hereabouts, a squad of men went in 
search of the beasts, but they were not to be found. When 
this was reported, an old woman exclaimed : " I'se knows 
whar dey ar,'* and described the place where they were 
hidden. There they were sure enough, muzzled, — Kiler, 



3 1 ^ CAP TAIN PHIL. 

who had been one of the searchers, returned, dragging the 
gasping body of a hound after him, a clean Hmbed, beauti- 
fully formed creature, which he threw among the negroes. 

They gathered around it exulting, their white teeth 
gleaming, and their faces wrinkled all over with joy and 
inward laughter. They kicked and beat the carcass. 
*' Yah, yah, youse neber track nigger any more, youse 
done for now, yah." 

" I feel savage enough to tear that beast to atoms," 
said Kiler, between his shut teeth. " To think my brother 
was once pursued by a thing like that." 

As we neared Sandersville we heard firing in front. At 
Buffalo Creek, where there was a great swamp, and many 
bridges, the enemy had burnt all the latter, and we had 
to halt, while the pioneer corps made arrangements for 
crossing*. The shooting was brisk, but we gained little 
information of what was going on. All were eager and 
excited. Three or four hours passed in this way. Then 
the column advanced, the firing still continued, and we 
momentarily expected a general engagement. We kept 
marching on, however, and so quietly entered the village, 
without further trouble. We there learned that the 
enemy's cavalry had attacked our front, they had been 
skirmishing all the way, but now they were driven off, 
and we saw nothing more of them. 

We halted one day at Sandersville, destroyed the rail- 
roads in the neighborhood, burnt the depots, and visited 
the plantations, laying them under contribution, and 
keeping the negro women steadily employed cooking for 
us. Some of the men had been very fortunate in finding, 
by the aid of the negroes, valuable articles which had 
been buried. Some sported gold watches, and other 
pieces of jewelry. The wagon trains were more carefully 
guarded, and we began to travel faster, for the enemy's 



FROM ATLANTA TO SAVANNAH. 313 

cavalry were hanging about us, and might attack us at 
any time. 

On the 27th we reached Davisboro*. Our cattle trains 
were so large they were getting unruly. They had plenty 
of corn, while we reveled on sweet potatoes, and fresh 
bread, for the men made the mills fly, had sorghum syrup, 
honey, and even fresh eggs for breakfast. 

We were nearing the Ogeechee Ri;/er, and wished our- 
selves safely across, for it was one of the miserable 
swampy streams common hereabout. Our destination 
was still all conjecture ; some of the boys insisting it w^as 
Augusta, and that after the passage of the river, we would 
take a direct course towards that city. The roads were 
good, and the men laid waste the bordering plantations 
without halting. You could constantly see parties of 
stragglers coming up laden with plunder, slaughtered 
and quartered sheep and pork dripping from their bayo- 
nets, and their pockets bulging with money and valuables 
they had " lit on." 

At length we reached the Ogeechee, and halted, for the 
bridges were all gone, a road had to be made, and pon- 
toons put down for the passage of the wagons. When 
these were completed, all wended their way over, the 
wagons on the pontoons, the men on a foot bridge they 
had constructed. It was with difficulty the negroes were 
kept to the rear. They made every effort to evade the 
guard, frantic with the thought of the enemy's cavalry 
coming down upon them. 

I never in my life saw such a sight as this army of con- 
trabands presented. One would have to see it to believe 
it. On blind horses, on lame and halt mules, and in 
crazy carts, children on the backs of their parents, and 
in the arms of their sisters, broken down old men, and 
decrepit old women, yet with life enough left in them to 



1; 
li 



314 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

join in the march to freedom, and to keep up with the 
army. This " keeping up " was what I could not under- 
stand, for they did it, day by day they were there march- 
ing on. ^' The largest part of them were women and 
children, the little ones half naked, their elders dressed 
in their best," toting what they could not get on their 
backs, but always good humored and cheerful, and ready 
with a quick retort for any jest flung at them. Many 
were tidy pretty mulattoes,with bright handerchiefs pinned 
upon their heads after their own peculiar fashion of wear- 
ing this article. They depended entirely upon the army 
for subsistence and had the manner of receiving it of a 
dog that knows he is a favorite with his master. They 
have always depended upon the white man for food and 
clothes, I heard a veteran say one day. " They don't 
know what freedom means, don't know it is liberty to 
work for their daily bread, and provide it as they please." 

The river passed, we hastened on to Louisville, where 
we rested for a day. We kept Thanksgiving royally, had 
all the good things of the season, I am not sure that some 
of the boys did not have pumpkin pies. After we left 
Louisville, the country was very fine, and although the 
weather was now warm, making marching very fatiguing, 
we made good headway. We went out of our way as 
usual, to pay our respects to the plantations in passing, 
but this was beginning to be an old story with us now. 

Nearing Millen, many of the men dropped from the 
ranks to visit the prison pen, which lay about two miles 
from our line of march. I was anxious to go, but John 
would not consent ; he reminded me that two of our com- 
pany had strayed from the column a few days before, and 
hadn't been seen since. There was little doubt that they 
had been killed or taken prisoners by lurking rebels. 

When Kiler, who was among those who went, returned, 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA V ANN AH. 315 

he described the dismal coop, in the midst of a dreary- 
pine forest, over which vultures hovered, waiting their 
prey. There our poor men had been obliged to burrow 
like rabbits, to keep themselves from cold wind and 
weather, with no covering above their heads, and almost 
naked, while they were systematically starved, until some 
of them, unable to bear their wretchedness longer, delib- 
erately trusted their souls to the mercy of God, and 
walked to the dead line, where they did not have to wait 
their doom. The men ground their teeth in indignation 
and hate, and rushed to the destruction of the depots 
and houses on the way with an eagerness of retaliation 
that was fearful to see. 

*^When I was a prisoner among them," said a man of 
about forty, w^ith iron-gray hair, '' I witnessed a scene 
which it makes my heart sore to think of. There was 
with us a young lad of about seventeen, as delicate as any 
girl ; his mother was a widow, and the boy had a fortune, 
and had been tenderly raised. When the cry for men 
swept over the North, he insisted upon going, but his 
guardian and his mxOther would not permit it. Time 
passed ; the boy's patriotism waxed hotter and hotter ; he 
implored, and his mother yielded, as she had always done 
to him, and he went. Three months afterwards he was 
taken prisoner. At first, although he had to shut his 
eyes when he ate his food, he resolutely made the best of 
it, and kept up the spirits of us all. Then, as days, and 
weeks, and months wore away, he pined for his mother's 
voice and his home. He could not hear from her. He 
became thin and weak, and took a fever from exposure. 
The men nursed him as though he had been a babe — 
carrying him in their arms, and saving the best bits of 
their food for him ; but he turned from it ; he could not 
eat such food, although he was starving. He would lie 



3 1 6 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

for hours and talk in a half delirious way of his home, 
his mother, the garden, the birds, and the watermelons. 
One day he was lying with his eyes shut in the sunshine, 
when a prison officer came along, and, saying he was in 
the way, brutally kicked him. It broke the boy's heart. 
That night he raved in delirium, he prayed, he sang, he 
talked to his mother and his schoolmates ; one moment he 
was with Jesus and the angels, the next he was on the 
battle-field where he had been taken prisoner. 

"We sat round him and watched, and wet his lips 
and forehead with water we had procured for him at the 
risk of our lives, and we took turns and rocked him in 
our arms, that his emaciated little body might not touch 
the hard bare earth. We saw the end coming, and hoped 
he might know us ere he died. He did know us. Day 
was just breaking when he opened his blue eyes wide and 
looked into our faces. ^ I've been dreaming of mother,' 
he said, * and now I am going to Jesus.' 

*' We could say no word. 

" ^ You have been very kind to me,' he went on. * If 
ever you get away from here, you must tell mother not to 
grieve for me ; God has shown me that it is best.' 

" He turned his face against my breast, as though to 
sleep. When I looked he was gone. I hope, I pray that 
God w^ill forgive me for the deadly bitterness that sprung 
up in my heart then, in the very presence of the holy 
mystery of such a death." 

He stopped, and no one spoke for several moments. 
At length one struck up " Rally Round the Flag, Boys," 
and all joined in. 

I have tried to tell this story in the man's own words, 
but I cannot tell it as he did. 

John was present at the time, and he held my hand 
tiglitly. I saw he w^as much moved. 



FROM A TLANTA TO SA V ANN AH. 317 

Afterwards I asked him who the man was. ^' I do not 
know his name," was the reply, ^^but I think he is from 
Michigan. I have noticed him several times. He is a 
brave soldier, and I believe a good man. Phil," he said, 
after a pause, " do you know what I thought when he 
spoke of th at boy ? I thought you might have the same fate ; 
think of this when you w^ould run recklessly into danger 
to which no duty calls you." 

I heard some of the officers talking with John one day ; 
they spoke of the morals of the army. One of them had 
served in Mexico, and in the Crimea, and he said he had 
not believed it possible that in an army the standard 
could be so high ; he had known of no insult offered, or 
act of violence committed upon any woman or child ; on 
the contrary, he thought the women on the plantations 
carried things with a high hand. 

Dwellings had been entered and private property taken, 
but when done without orders this was promptly pun- 
ished. He spoke of the ease of two men who had been 
caught stealing women's clothing ; they had been sen- 
tenced to wear the clothes they had pilfered, and were 
now trudging along, each tied to the tail of a wagon, 
dressed in the frocks they had coveted — the laughing- 
stock and scorn of the army. So it was now ; although 
burning with indignation at the sight of Millen prison pen, 
they destroyed no inhabited private dwelling, and were 
guilty of no outrage. 

The weather was still very w^arm, but we kept steadily 
on. The men began to talk of the seaboard being their 
destination, and to crack their jokes about Savannah. 
We were among the pines ; birds were singing in the 
green tops over our heads, while under our feet it was 
splash, splash, through creeks and swamps, most of which 
had to be puntooned for the wagons to pass over. 



i! 



3 1 8 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

** It was trying to the flesh and trying to the temper/* 
Jones said, as he drew himself heavily from a sort of 
quicksand, where he had gone in almost to his knees in an 
attempt to force a passage. It was slow work. The 
teams plunged along, the drivers straining every nerve to 
keep them right, using hard whips, and harder words, 
bawling at the top of their lungs ; officers were screech- 
ing orders, riders sinking into ditches and foaming and 
sweating in their attempts to get out. The men were 
passing on now over shoe-tops, now to the ankle in the 
slough, some swearing, others laughing and cracking jokes 
about finding the bottom. In this way we marched on to 
Springfield. On crossing a creek some one asked its 
name. A bluff Indianian shouted out : '^ Ebenezer. 
They are fond of the name. We have little Ebenezer, 
big Ebenezer, and Ebenezer proper here, and up country 
they have Ebenezers too. Their ' stones of help ' do not 
seem to do them much good." 

Whereupon ^*The Barometer" sang out : 

'* Here I raise my Ebenezer ! " 

and they traveled on, singing it at the top of their lungs. 
On another occasion, when we were going on quietly, 
at the close of the day, just before reaching our camping 
ground, he burst out with : 

** How tedious and tasteless the hours, 
When Jesus no longer I see ! 
Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers 
Have all lost their sweetness for me. " 

When another voice, in a rough but hearty tone, was 
heard : 

" Lookee yonder ! Just put rebels in that second line 
and we will all join in." 



FROM ATLANTA TO SAVANNAH. 319 

There was a cheering laugh, followed by rebuke for the 
speaker's want of reverence. 

''Do you think," was the reply, ^'that I would throw 
dirt at my own mother by making fun of such things. I 
just thought the words suited our case exactly, and spoke 
out in meeting. Bless you, I have sung that many a 
time in the Methodist chapel, where the old woman be- 
longs, and if I get through this war it is her prayers will 
take me." 

At length we were over Ebenezer Creek, its branches, 
swamps, and all. Begrimed and with clothes torn, some 
of the men presented a sorry spectacle. Our lines w^ere 
narrowing, the army drawing closer together, for we were 
nearing Savannah. It was about the loth, I think, for I 
had almost lost the track of the days of the month, that a 
gun-boat made its appearance on the Savannah, and 
shelled us, but did no harm. We had come upon the 
obstructions they had planted in our path, as we neared 
the outer line of their defenses. The road passing over 
swamp and morass was piled with logs, through which a 
squirrel could hardly creep. The men were jubilant, and 
no longer asked '' What is that ? " when a roar met their 
ears. They knew what it was — expected it — longed for 
it — rejoiced at its coming and worked the harder to get 
nearer and have their share. 

I listened now for the sound of the sea waves which 
came faintly to my ear, and trod beneath the live oak 
and palmetto, where the earth never seemed so beautiful 
to me as it did then. Strange luxuriant vines, festooned 
with their dark and bright green, the trees already draped 
by the hoary gray moss, which swung to and fro on the 
branches, making these giants of the wood look wild and 
weird. The air was soft, the sun bright, and when the 
music of the band was heard in the distance, I did not 



320 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

1| wonder that the men felt exultant and impatient to meet 

' those who kept them from what they already deemed 

their own. John's company was now in the front, and I 
kept pretty close to them. If there was anything going 
on I wanted to see it. 

We had carried the first line, taken the enemy's re- 
doubts, which commanded the road through the swamp 
over which we were advancing, and they, in full tilt on a 
double quick, were making their way back to Savannah. 

I was standing looking at a prisoner who had been 
brought in, when suddenly I heard one close beside me 
exclaim : "" Laws a marcy, ef yonder aint young mars ! " 
and a negro who had been working in front hustled back 
among the men, who laughed at his terror. Another, 
who was an officer's servant, and had been with us some 
time, looked at the man defiantly, almost insolently, and 
said : " Tears like these here cullard pussons tiever git no 
sense. I'd like to see my ole mars make me back out 
like dat." His eyes flashed viciously. 

The negroes told terrible stories of cruelties practiced 
upon those of their color who had again fallen into the 
hands of their former masters. Here, for the first time, I 
heard the account, which has since been published, of 
their treatment by the enemy's cavalry at Ebenezer 
Creek, the driving them into the water, where they 
perished by hundreds. The blacks believed they would 
be tortured in every possible way if caught, and placed 
entire confidence in these tales. They would shake their 
heads knowingly, if you appeared to doubt, with : ^* Dis 
nigger knows." 

Our lines were so connected that the divisions could 
support each other, and although the enemy constantly 
contested the roads by which we advanced, as yet they 
had done it but little to our damage. We heard of 




OLE MARS.' 



FROM ATLANTA TO SAVANNAH. 321 

strong fortifications in our way, of torpedoes and obstruc- 
tions of all kinds ; but, no whit alarmed, the army 
steadily approached the coast. " The Old Tycoon," the 
boys said, ^^ had made up his mind to have the city, and 
have it he would." So if Hardee were wise he would 
give in handsomely, for you might as well try to turn a 
river up stream as turn old Billy back when he meant 
forward. 

In a few hours more Savannah was invested, and pre- 
parations were making to storm Fort McAllister, which 
stands wath two sides to the land, on a spot of dry earth 
upon a peninsula formed by the Ogeechee river, and is 
surrounded by a dense swamp. 

John told me one evening that a reconnoissance had 
been made, and that the fort would probably be attacked 
next day. We were out on the road at the time, standing 
talking, when a body of our cavalry came dashing along. 
I moved quickly to get out of the way, caught my foot 
in a vine and fell. Ere I could gain my feet again they 
were on us. One moment I felt as though something 
was grinding me to atoms ; then I knew nothing until I 
opened my eyes and found myself in the surgeon's hands, 
and John bending over me. My ankle was sprained and 
a rib was broken. It appeared to me impossible to bear 
it, not the pain, but the being compelled to lie quietly 
while so much was going on. Then, too, the hurt was so 
inglorious. Had it been a bullet or bayonet wound I 
would have been proud to have had it — but to be ren- 
dered helpless by a tangled vine and the hoof of a horse 
— it was too much, too unheroic. 

I almost put myself in a fever thinking of it. John 
listened quietly to all my complaints on this head, and 
when I paused for breath, said : 

" And so you think, Phil, the hundreds and thousands 
21 



fl 



322 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

of soldiers who have been stricken down by disease, and 
had to lie in camps and hospitals suffering from their 
maladies are not heroes ! To my mind there has been 
more true heroism among them than was displayed by 
their brothers on the battle-field. Thirsting for action, 
they have been compelled to curb their eager spirits, 
calm their tempest-tossed souls, bear patiently agonies of 
body which brought no glory, yet have exulted heartily 
in the victories achieved by their comrades, while burn- 
ing to achieve such themselves.*' 

I did not answer, for it was very bitter to me. 

" My poor boy," John said after a moment, drawing 
his hand across my brow, *^ you must learn that ^ God 
knows best.* ** 

John gave me full details of the entry of the army into 
the city, and everything that was done. I lay in bed and 
heard all about Fort McAllister. Trying to possess my 
soul in patience, I rejoiced heartily, and was so proud 
that Savannah was taken by the Western army, and 
presented as a Christmas gift to the nation. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE CAROLINAS HOME. 



I DID not see the rest, but Fort McAllister was taken, 
and Savannah came into our possession after a siege 
of eleven days. Hardee evacuated on the night of the 
2oth of December and General Geary pushed in after 
him. 

It was gray dawn when the troops entered the city, the 
mayor and council going out to meet the general, and 
surrendering it unconditionally. 

I went in a couple of days afterwards in an ambulance, 
and had to keep my bed two weeks. John insisted upon it, 
only reconciling me to the confinement by pointing out 
that if orders came to leave, and my ankle was not better, 
I must stay behind. 

It was a sorry Christmas for me, but a great one for the 
nation. I could imagine *' Father Abraham's " satisfac- 
tion. The forts he had promised the people that they 
should again possess, were gradually coming into their 
hands. 

A beautiful city is Savannah. It was founded (as Tom 
Doolan said, when asked the question at an examina- 
tion, by General 0-leg-athorp (Oglethorpe) and he bore 
the name 0-leg-athorp, ever after) in 1732. 

I saw but little of it until just before we left, when I 
mounted my horse and rode about. I had some curiosity 
to see Pulaski's monument, which is mentioned in our 
geographies as among the beauties of Savannah. The 



H 



324 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

citizens must have venerated the memory of this heroic 
Pole, for they have erected several monuments to his 
memory. They have given his name to an hotel, and a 
fort, and a square, and, I think, a street as well. He was 
a nobleman banished from his country, who volunteered 
in our Revolutionary war, and when the city was at- 
tacked by the British, was killed while gallantly defend- 
ing it. 

One of the monuments raised in his honor is in Chip- 
pewa Square ; another, jointly commemorating his deeds 
and those of General Greene, stands in Monument 
Square. It is a beautiful column, rising like a pyramid. 
The corner stone of this last was laid by General Lafay- 
ette, when he visited the United States in 1825, and the 
ceremony was conducted with much pomp and parade. 

Many of the houses in Savannah are palaces. Gen- 
eral Sherman's headquarters was in a house owned by 
Mr. Greene. It was a two story dwelling which stood in 
a garden facing a park. A wide gallery ran all round 
the outside, the ascent to which was by marble steps, 
flanked on each side by tall pillars holding lamps. A 
sentinel paced this gallery. I knew the man, and con- 
trived while holding converse with him, to get a glimpse 
of the hall inside. It was broad and long, and flagged 
with marble ; there w^ere four doors on each side of it, 
with heavy moldings and carved cornices ; a large chan- 
delier hung from the center and sconces protruded from 
the walls. At the farther end, before a door opening on a 
garden, stood several pedestals ornamented with statues, 
and brackets holding pictures hung here and there. 
Large tubs containing tropical plants stood on the mar- 
ble pavement, their branches almost touching the ceiling. 
I was told that the drawing-room and the inside of this 
dwelling corresponded with what I had seen. 



THE CAROLINA S—HOME, 325 

The streets of Savannah are very wide. Broad Street 
and West Broad Street are on opposite sides of the city ; 
then there are South Broad and Liberty Street running 
through the center ; and Bay Street near the river. 
Broad street is beautiful ; it has a grassy walk through 
the middle, shaded with trees, for foot passengers, with a 
carriage way each side. The streets are not paved, they 
are covered with sand instead. The city is regularly laid 
out, and has handsome public buildings. Every square, 
or two, I have forgotten which, there is a small park, of 
an oval shape, planted with shade trees ; there are twenty- 
four of these parks altogether. 

The Southern trees are the handsomest I ever saw. 
The pines and oaks with their draperies of moss are 
solemn and funereal looking, but the magnolia is gay and 
bright, as is also the orange when in fruit and blossom. 
I saw the bay, and another tree called the Pride of India, 
with which the streets of Savannah are planted. 

The people seemed very poor. I observed several boys 
in the streets dressed in suits of patched bedticking, one 
who wore a coat made of a worn patch-work quilt, and 
negro women in dresses made of gunny bags. I went to 
church one Sunday, and saw many gentlemen there in 
homespun suits — others in old, shiny, long-tailed coats, 
and hats of a by-gone era. 

The ladies had evidently not seen the last Paris fashions. 
Although it was some time since I had visited stylish 
places, these were some years behind the last I had seen. 
Many of their bonnets had, no doubt, been taken from 
closets or garrets, where they had been thrown with 
other rubbish, and ^^ done up " by the owners — their 
faded ribbons being renovated as far as possible. A great 
many of the ladies wore black. I think any taste in head- 
gear might have been suited in that assemblage. 



326 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

Secretary Stanton paid a visit to Savannah, on which 
occasion General Sherman reviewed the cavalry on Bay 
Street, in front of the Exchange. There was a great 
crowd, and much cheering for Mr. Lincoln. 

I went to the hospital to try to find a man of John's 
company who was ill. I saw and talked with many of our 
men there ; they were very enthusiastic and impatient to 
get out. One of them described to me General Sher- 
man's making ^he rebel prisoners take up the torpedoes. 

*^ There is no getting round ' Old Billy,* " he said. 
^* He had information that the roads to Savannah were 
filled with concealed torpedoes to destroy our men. He 
placed the rebel prisoners in front of our advance col- 
umns, and compelled them to dig up the infernal ma- 
chines, a work they did not like at all, ' but the fox was 
the finder.' " 

This hospital was a large, low, two story building with 
" trees about it ; the men were very comfortable, and were 
well taken care of. 

I had but little time to go about the city. I should 
like to have visited some of the forts, but had not the op- 
portunity. The city was quiet and orderly ; the people 
looked listless and sad. Preparations were making for a 
march through the Carolinas, it proved. John was afraid 
I would have the fever again, and tried to persuade me 
to remain at Savannah. My ankle was well, only a little 
weak, and I had my horse ; so, as the left wing was likely, 
as rumor said, to plunge into the swamps, I prevailed 

on him to let me accompany his old friend, Mr. D 

of Bull Run memory, who was going with the right wing. 

No doubt some of my readers think that when an army 
moves it does so in a body. If so this is a mistake. It 
moves by corps and divisions, each having its own wagon, 
ammunition, ordnance and ambulance trains, pack mules, 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 327 

etc., carrying all it needs on the route. Each division has 
also its own badge by which it is knowm to others. 

Thus in the Army of the Tennessee, the badge of the 
Seventeenth Corps was an arrow ; a red one for the First 
Division, a white one for the Second, a blue one for the 
Third. For the Fifteenth Corps it was a cartridge-box ; 
red, white and blue for the divisions. In General Slo- 
cum's army, the Twentieth Corps had a star, red, white 
and blue for the divisions ; the Fourteenth an acorn, red, 
white and blue for the divisions. 

General Sherman had reviewed the troops. The whole 
army had been inspected, and there was a getting together 
of stores preparatory to the new march. The quarter- 
masters had a busy time. Think of having to furnish 
nearly two million rations of bread, twice as much coffee, 
besides sugar, salt and bacon. For although the order 
was published to subsist on the country, no general w^ould 
have felt justified in starting without providing rations for 
his men in case of emergency. 

It was estimated that General Sherman's wagon-train 
was forty miles in length, the train of each wing 
covering twenty miles ; the ammunition wagons were 
one thousand in number, and required twelve miles of 
road to move on ; then the batteries covered seven miles, 
the ambulances were one thousand in number and cov- 
ered five miles. I got these particulars from the officers 
or men, and put them down in my note book. 

I knew one or two of the war correspondents, and I 
liked to go about with them, for they found out every- 
thing. John told me he saw an estimate, which said 
it required over eight hundred wagons to transport the 
bread alone ; and that, exclusive of the ambulances, there 
were six thousand wagons in the army, carrying provi- 
sions, tents, baggage, ammunition, etc., and they were 



328 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

drawn by thirty-six thousand horses. From Atlanta 
through to Savannah we did not lose a wagon. Besides 
the wagons, two thousand pack mules followed the army. 
Shovels, spades, pickaxes, materials for building, pontoon- 
ing instruments and tools must go with the column for 
use on the way. 

All the horses of the wagon trains and ambulances, as 
well as those belonging to the officers had to be kept shod; 
and men, materials and tools must be on hand to do it. 
The cavalry had their own blacksmiths. These horses 
must be fed, and it being impossible to carry forage, the 
country had to furnish it. To the foragers or bummers, 
therefore, was assigned the duty of providing entertain- 
ment for man and beast. I heard a general say that 
General Sherman could no more have moved his army 
without the bummers, than he could move a wagon with- 
out wheels. There was nothing the rebels were so afraid 
of as Sherman's Bummers. 

Sixty men from each division were set aside for this 
work, making in themselves a little army of from seven 
to eight hundred men, mounted on horses and mules. 
They cared for nobody, were afraid of nothing, and tried 
to make themselves look as terrible as possible. ^^ Come 
boys, it is time to bum," or "" We must be off to market." 
And they would start while the stars were in the sky, and 
ride the country for miles in the front and flank of the 
army. They unearthed everything that was hidden, and 
loading their animals with pigs, geese, turkeys and chick- 
ens, they seized any vehicles at hand, coaches or dung 
carts, and filling them until they could hold no more, then 
impressed the negroes to drive them. 

In our march through Georgia, I more than once saw 
a medley of hams, eggs, cheese, honey, potatoes, pickles, 
preserves, live poultry, and dead hogs, taken from a hand- 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 329 

some carriage. They seemed to be up to every trick and 
artifice of the people to hide their provisions or silver. 
The more they protested they had nothing the more the 
bummers believed they had everything ; they left no place 
unsearched, and if they found anything, destroyed what 
they could not take away, in revenge for the trouble 
they had in finding it. They made the negroes dig the 
sweet potatoes, and load the vehicles, as well as drive 
them, which they were very willing to do. 

At night, as the tired column approached its camping 
ground, the bummers would be seen planted along the 
line of march, beside hills of fodder and provisions, each 
squad keeping watch over that allotted to its company. 
Their presence always told of good cheer, and they were 
received by the men with shouts of welcome. 

After the night's arrangements w^ere made, they would 
collect around the fires, and tell their adventures. One 
night I saw a tall, raw-boned fellow exhibiting a pretty 
little French watch, and a pair of earrings which he de- 
clared were for his '^ girl." He had smelled them, and un- 
earthed them, he said. The boys laughed at that, and 
insisted he had been robbing the women, and some not 
very complimentary remarks were made by one or two 
present, as to the courage of a man who would take a 
woman's traps, even though she was a rebel woman. 

"Now you hold on there," was the reply ; '^ you had 
better not be passing your opinion until you know what 
you are talking about. I'll tell you how it was. The 
captain ordered us not to enter that house, but to take 
what we pleased from the outside premises ; we had taken 
everything and were going to leave, when a pile of manure 
near the barn caught my eye ; it had been newly turned 
over, and it was early in the day for that work. I asked 
a nigger who stood by what was hidden there and he said 



330 CAPTAIN PHIL. 

^^ Nuffin, massa/' But there was a look out of the corner 
of his eye such as I had seen in niggers' eyes before, when 
things were under cover, so I began to turn the pile over; 
and the boys smelling a rat, ran back to help. In a few 
minutes it was scattered and a box full of gimcracks 
brought to view. These were my part of the spoil, and 
lawful spoil, too, for we had orders to take all we could 
get or wanted outside the doors." 

There were some terrible stories told of the bummers. 
They defended themselves by saying they had to provide 
for the army, and their orders were to live off the country; 
this they did by taking from rich and poor alike. Let 
those who brought on the war reap the reward, was their 
feeling. 

About the middle of January, the right wing went by sea 
to Beaufort. I enjoyed the sight of the great deep. I never 
wearied looking at it. The army went into camp at Beau- 
fort and Pocotaligo. 

The left wing began its line of march up both sides of 
the Savannah River. A few days after, we heard of it 
floundering in the swamps, trying to force its way through 
the flood, for the rain had deluged the country and cov- 
ered the swamp roads. In three or four days it had made 
but seven miles. It was impossible to proceed; the roads 
were impassable, the boys walked in water, stood in water, 
worked in water, slept in water, with alligators for com- 
pany ; but they made a frolic of it, and jest and laughter 
rang through the dismal marshes. The roads were ob- 
structed by trees felled across them, their branches inter- 
laced, making a barrier through which the men had to 
force their way with guns on their shoulders, and hatchets 
in hand. 

About the 29th or 30th, we broke up our camp at Po- 
cotaligo and Beaufort, one column moving towards the 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME, 331 

River Cambahee, the other on the road to McPhersonville. 
This was a pretty Httle village, with handsome shade 
trees. We left it in ruins. 

*' We are in South Carolina, boys," said a huge Wiscon- 
sin man, as he fired the last house ; ^^ don't leave them a 
rope to hang by." 

^^Ay, ay," said another; ^'as they have made their 
bed, so they must lie in it." 

They burned and destroyed with twice the zest they did 
in Georgia. As we marched along the road the people 
stood and gazed in wonder. The boys sang out and 
shouted and danced as though we celebrated a festival. 

We found most of the houses vacant, the owners hav- 
ing run off, consequently they were fired and burned. 

The country was poor about the Coosawatchie, with 
great swamps which had to be crossed, and through the 
swamps ran many deep wide streams and shallow and 
treacherous creeks, in which the wagons would stick fast, 
and which must be bridged. This the men did, at the 
same time keeping on and skirmishing with the enemy 
until we reached Hickory Hill. Scarce pausing:, we crossed 
Coosawatchie Swamp and camped on Duck Creek. Our 
way was lighted by burning dwellings, fences and trees ; 
sometimes we marched between lines of fire. 

The weather had been bright and beautiful; now a cold 
rain fell. The enemy were at work trying to impede our 
progress ; we could hear them cutting down trees. The 
other column was in Whippy Swamp, pulling down almost 
as fast as the enemy put up ; working and fighting by 
turns. Indeed, they seemed to be amphibious, and al- 
most as much at home and as jolly, when up to their waists 
fighting in the green slimy water, as when marching on 
the sandy roads. They rebuilt the bridges, made the 
roads, and drove the rebels at the same time, till at length 



!» 



SZ^ CAPTAIN PHIL, 

they were through the swamp; and after a fight at Rivers 
Bridge, where the rebels thought themselves impregnable, 
(and where we should have been impregnable) were over 
the Big Salkehatchie, the ugliest river I ever saw, with its 
horrible swamps, and treacherous roads, and were push- 
ing on ahead. 

About the 4th of February we left Duck Creek, where 
we had been soaked, and started for Beaufort Bridge, by 
way of Angleseys. The causeway through the swamp 
was broken up and the bridges — -over a dozen — destroyed. 
Nothing daunted, the boys set to work and pulled down 
a frame church near, repairing the roads and building the 
bridges with the timber, and likewise crossed over the Big 
Salkehatchie. 

Passing a tree near the roadside 1 saw General Sher- 
man was under it, writing on his hat for a desk, an orderly 
beside him. 

"There's old Billy now,'' some one remarked. 

An aged negro toddling along as near the column as 
he dared, approached and said eagerly : " Whar, massa, 
whar ? Please tell me whar ? " 

" There, look well at him ; he is your best friend," said 
a soldier, pointing him out. 

The negro stood and gazed intently, and drawing 
nearer looked again. 

*' Well, what do you think of him ?" said the soldier 
who had pointed him out, for the column had halted. 

"Why, massa," as the general crushed his old soft felt 
hat on his head and rode on, " he's not much to look at, 
but I reckon he's powerful to do." 

A shout of laughter greeted the reply. 

There was some little skirmishing between the rivers, 
but the enemy generally managed to keep out of the way, 
yet as we neared the little Salkehatchie they seemed de- 



THE CAROLINAS—HOME. 333 

termined to dispute the crossing and there was some 
sharp fighting. 

At night there were beautiful scenes, the fires lit up the 
sky, and wreathed the trees, having a grand effect. I saw 
a pine wood on fire ; it cracked and hissed and splut- 
tered, and the light was like the brightest day. The moss 
and vines which hung from the branches were festoons 
of flames. One moment it looked like a great cathedral 
burning, with columns and arches and all kinds of fretted 
work. Then the limbs would fall, the vines give way, and 
it would take some other form, weird, wild, or fantastic. 

The houses on the plantations all along our route were 
destroyed, and the provisions in them seized. 

It was cold, but the Little Salkehatchie had to be 
crossed ; the order had been given. A swamp, as usual, 
ran all along its banks, and the causeway over it was held 
by the foe, and strongly obstructed. Our men waded to 
their necks in the water, holding their guns and ammuni- 
tion in their hands above their heads; thus they charged 
through the swamp, right up to the breastwork, behind 
which the foe was sheltered, and took it, the rebels run- 
ning at their approach. On the 7th we struck the 
Charleston and Augusta Railroad, and began to destroy 
the track. It rained, and was so cold I thought I should 
freeze in the saddle, until we reached Hamburg, where I 
warmed myself by the burning cotton, nearly a thousand 
bales of which had been found and set on fire. 

We had news from the left wing, which was out of 
camp at Sister's Ferry, and making its way through the 
swamps under almost impassable difficulties, and building 
the roads as they marched. They were beyond Danielton. 

Some of the men who had been out on a reconnois- 
sance to Cannon's Bridge returned well laden with books, 
which they enjoyed at the camp fires. Some ^' big rebel'* 



334 



CAPTAIN PHIL. 



had been moving his library and a wagon had broken 
down ; the men coming upon it helped themselves, re- 
moving the books for him. 

On the nth of February, the whole Army of the Ten- 
nessee crossed the South Edisto, and the next day pro- 
ceeded to cross the North Edisto, which was a more diffi- 
cult matter, as the water was waist deep, and the cause- 
ways were fortified and defended by the rebels. It was 
done, however, the causeway gained, and the Army of the 
Tennessee marched to the North Edisto, accompanied not 
by a pillar of fire but by walls of fire. The dry grass had 
caught, or been ignited, and the flames were on every 
side lighting up the long line of march, for it was gray 
dawn ere the whole army had crossed over. 

Mr. D and I rode into what remained of Orange- 
burg, which had been given to the flames. It must have 
been a beautiful little place, but now it was but black and 
charred ruins. The people young and old sat in the 
streets beside the little, and it was very little, they had 
saved from their burning homes. Many of them had not 
a garment but what they wore, and were without food. 
My heart ached for them, for it seemed as though they 
must die of want. I saw an old, gray-haired man of 
seventy, his long locks on his shoulders, begging from the 
soldiers for his grandchildren, who sat among the cinders 
crying for bread. The men gave him all they had, which 
he seized and carried off with trembling hands, that were 
white and small, and never could have done any rough 
labor. 

Leaving Orangeburg, we marched in the direction of 
Columbia and entered the pine district. The air was 
heavy with smoke and sickening with turpentine, for the 
men found large quantities which they fired, and then 
burned the trees which yielded it. The atmosphere was so 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 335 

heavy and thick that it was with difficulty that one could 
breathe. Objects could not, while in the forest, be distin- 
guished at any distance for the smoke, which, black and 
thick, hung like a pall in the heavens. I felt as though I 
should faint, and became so dizzy while in the Pines I 
could hardly sit upon my horse. 

Keeping on through Caw-caw Swamp, we reached 
Sandy Run, the boys finding and burning much turpen- 
tine on the way, so we wxre accompanied as usual with 
smoke and flames. 

As we drew near Columbia the men uttered many a 
threat, and spoke through their shut teeth of this home 
of the South Carolina aristocrats, in a way that made me 
afraid to hear. The weather was cold ; a '' Scotch mist," 
as we called the fine rain which fell, carrying a chill to 
one's very heart. Keeping on, we reached Congaree 
Creek, where there was quite a battle for the bridge. The 
rebels defended it with a cannon at one end, and set fire 
to it at the other, but our men rushed up to the cannon's 
mouth and put out the fire. 

The people along the road were terribly alarmed. 
AVomen in groups besought the officers, almost on their 
knees, for protection, and when assured of safety, could 
hardly believe they were not to be murdered on the spot, 
the bummers, and rowdies from the army who had 
strayed and pretended to be bummers, had inspired them 
with such horror. 

It was near here I saw a fight among the bummers. 
They could not agree about the division of the spoil they 
had taken, and drew arms on each other. But for the 
orders of an officer, who happened to witness it, there 
would have been a regular battle. 

Riding through a swamp Mr. D and I heard a 

noise in the bushes, and suspecting a hidden foe, turned 



33^ CAPTAIN PHIL. 

to see what it was, and caught the flutter of a woman's 
dress. We pushed after, and when we came up, found 
three terrified women clinging to each other's drabbled 
dresses, one a black and the other two white. They 
begged piteously for mercy. We dismounted and went 
to them. The white and black women were each about 
fifty years of age, the other was a girl of about sixteen. 
They were wet to the skin, half famished and in such 
terror that they shook as though they had the ague. It 
was with difficulty we could make them believe we in- 
tended no evil. 

A little reassured, they told us the bummers had 
visited their place and stripped them of everything, the 
half-dozen negroes the lady had owned going off with 
them. 

The old negro woman, who had been the playmate of 
her mistress in her youth, had refused to leave her, and, 
hearing the army coming, they together had fled to the 
swamp, taking the young girl, who was the lady's only 
child, with them. Ere they reached it they saw their 
home in flames. They had made a little shelter at some 
distance with boughs and grass, and had ventured from 
it to try and find something to eat. 

There was that in the lady's face and manner which 

took a strong hold of both Mr. D and myself. We 

lighted a fire, which they had been afraid to do, assuring 
them there was no danger of discovery with smoke all 
round them, and gave them the contents of our haver- 
sacks, for we happened to have two days' rations with us. 
They were particularly glad of the coffee, of which we 
had nearly a pound ; we gave them our blankets, and the 
tin cups which hung upon our saddles. 

This warmed the old negro's heart, and she told us in 
confidence that she had hidden some taters and bacon 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 337 

for missus, in a place where Satan himself could not find 
them, and where she could get them when the army had 
gone. 

Seeing them a little more comfortable we went our way 
heavy at heart. 

Columbia, which we were approaching, stands on the 
Congaree River, at the junction of the Saluda and the Broad. 
There were expensive and beautiful bridges over the 
rivers, but the rebels burnt that over the Saluda at our 
appearance. The Saluda factory, which like the Roswell 
factory gave employment to many women, stood near this 
bridge and was destroyed by our troops. The sight of 
Sorghum Camp, where our men who were prisoners had 
been confined, and which was passed on the way to 
Saluda, roused the indignation of the army and intensified 
the bitterness of the feelings with which they regarded 
Columbia. 

There was some skirmishing and fighting, in the midst 
of which the Saluda was pontooned ; the men crossed and 
made a sharp attack on the rebels, who tried with their 
artillery to defend the bridge over the Broad, but finding 
themselves driven back, they set fire to and burnt it. 
Every effort was made to save it, but in vain ; they 
had covered it with rosin and piled pine kindlings 
upon it. 

We could plainly see the city. It appeared deserted ; 
the doors and windows of the houses were shut, and there 
were no persons in the streets. Some of our men swam 
the river, others went over in boats and hastily con- 
structed rafts to protect the pontooners, who were at 
work all night bridging the Broad. 

The men spent the time, while waiting, in getting ready 
to enter, putting on their best clothes, burnishing their 
arms, etc. They were determined to make as fine a show 
22 



S3^ CAPTAIN PHIL, 

as they could in this center of rebeldom, which they hated 
little less than Charleston itself. 

At length the word " forward " was given, and with 
every token of victory, and ^^Hail Columbia'* and the 
*' Star Spangled Banner " ringing on the breeze, with 
shout and dance, and " God bless you " from negro and 
white in welcome, we entered the city, which had been 
evacuated by the rebels and most of the secesh inhab- 
itants, and surrendered by the mayor. 

The negroes in their joy tore open the cotton bales in 
the streets, and scattered the contents by handfuls in the 
air, as a salutation to the troops, who in passing assisted 
them in the work of destruction by thrusting their bayo- 
nets in the white piles, and casting it abroad. 

Every man had more or less cotton upon him. One 
poor fellow came near being burnt up ; the cotton he had 
on him, by some means, took fire. I was attracted by his 
cries : *^ Put me out ! Put me out ! '* He was more fright- 
ened than hurt, however, for his clothes were only a little 
scorched. 

That night I witnessed the most terrible scene I ever 
saw in my life ; the like of which I hope I may never see 
again. I thought the burning of Atlanta dreadful, but 
John explained that it was a military necessity. The burn- 
ing of Columbia was the horror of horrors. The city in 
flames ; aged women, young women, children and infants 
in arms, decrepit old men, and sick and infirm old women 
huddled together by hundreds — with no food, no clothes, 
no shelter. Their tears, and prayers, and lamentations 
were almost unheard amid the shouts of the pillagers, the 
oaths of the drunken soldiers, the crackling and hissing 
of the flames which were destroying their homes. 

In the parks and sheltered corners, half dressed and 
clinging to each other, were frightened groups, who again 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME, 339 

and again were obliged by the approach of the fire to 
move from even those poor retreats. 

The sky looked an ocean of flame, and the earth was 
as light as it was ever made by the brightest sun. 

Columbia was a handsome city; everything showed that 
wealthy people had lived there. The houses were large, 
the gardens beautiful, and there w^as, as is usual in South- 
ern cities, a great number of shade trees. 

General Preston, Mr. 'Rhett and Wade Hampton lived 
there ; I heard some of our cavalry talking, while stand- 
ing in front of Hampton's house, a palace of a place. 
They had lately had a skirmish with him and his band, 
but did not appear to be much afraid of him. 

^' A pretty good fighter, but the most overbearing of all 
the Southern crew," I heard one say. 

They looked as though they longed to clang through his 
splendid mansion ^nd turn their horses into his paradise of 
a garden. The soldiers did burn the house and lay waste 
the garden before we left. 

Passing the park I saw a number of women and girls 
surrounded by our officers and men, who appeared to be 
guarding them. They were dreadfully terrified. I found 
they were young ladies who had been at school at the Con- 
vent. The Convent was burning and they had been com- 
pelled to leave it with the sisters, and had nowhere to go. 
Everywhere our officers and men v/ere working, trying to 
protect the helpless people, and save their homes : but 
many of the soldiers were drunk and ungovernable. They 
ransacked houses and dived into the cellars for liquors, 
drinking costly wine like water and quarreling over the 
spoil, even shooting at each other. 

The streets were strewed with everything. The frantic 
people had tried to save some little of their household 
goods, and furniture, beds, crockery, pictures, books and 



340 



CAPTAIN PHIL. 



Statuary could be seen cumbering the ground, the half 
crazed people sitting among them. 

The public buildings of Columbia were very handsome. 
There was Christ Church, the Baptist Church and 
Methodist, all fine buildings, the Town Hall and 
market, the Court House and the hotels, Congaree and 
Columbia House, with the new Capitol, said to be one of 
the finest buildings to be seen anywhere. The Capitol 
was not finished and not burnt. 

Columbia stands on a hill, but there are many swamps 
about it. The Columbia and Kingsville Railroad reaches 
the city through a gloomy cypress swamp on its edge. 
In entering we crossed the Spartanburg Railroad, also the 
Saluda Canal. The whole ground appeared saturated with 
water. 

It would be impossible to give any idea of things the 
next day. The ruins were still burning ; the half-clothed 
people were begging for bread and crowding the churches 
for shelter, startled and affrighted every now and then 
by explosions that shook the buildings they were in to 
their foundations. 

The army was destroying the ammunition and arms 
they had found. 

Our commissaries were ordered to give food to the 
people, of whom hundreds had nothing to eat. 

We left Columbia February the 20th, I think it was, 
and I for one was glad to get away from so much misery. 
The houseless, homeless, destitute people begged pite- 
ously to go with us ; and having permission so to do, they 
seized every kind of article, and followed after. Aristo- 
crats, negroes and ^^ poor whites " made a long line of 
refugees, the like of which was never seen with an army 
before. The negroes and poor whites had generally the 
best conveyances — the former often traveled in the family 



THE CAROLINAS—HOME. 341 

coach, while the mistress and children came behind in a 
cart or carry-all. The animals attached to these vehicles 
made one laugh in spite of one's self ; broken-down cart 
horses, mules and oxen, and in one case even a cow 
assisted to drag them along. Besides this caravan, there 
was a large number on foot, who preferred picking the 
crumbs that fell from the army to remaining behind. 

Mr. D and I rode several times along the line of 

people, and always found the negroes cheerful and full of 
jokes, no matter what the difficulties to be encountered. 
The soldiers had a kindly feeling for them, and scarcely 
ever refused to help them. They remembered that the 
slaves had always been the friends of the Federal sol- 
dier, and had assisted the poor prisoners when they 
could. 

The first night out from Columbia we camped on a 
high ridge which ran along a creek some nine or ten miles 
from the Wateree River. The soldiers were full of fun 
and frolic ; they built fires, around which they sang and 
danced. The bugles sounded, the drums beat, and drunk 
with their success in humbling South Carolina, they sang 
•* Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle,'' boasting that 
they had crushed the head of the serpent. At the same 
time they gave those with them bread, and were really 
kind to the refugees. 

We kept on, fording the creeks w^ith difficulty, for the 
rains had swollen them much beyond their banks. We 
had some skirmishing, took some wagons and quite a 
number of prisoners. The rebels also seized several of 
our wagons. 

We crossed the Wateree on pontoons, and kept on in 
the direction of Liberty Hill, another aristocratic locality, 
having handsome mansions and costly furniture, and 
negroes in abundance. The boys visited the larders and 



342 



CAPTAIN PHIL. 



carried off what they wanted, to the great disgust of the 
owners, who talked to them of "their rights." 

We turned for some purpose off into the interior, burn- 
ing cotton, of which we found a large quantity, seizing 
horses and cattle, and making bonfires of houses. 

Nearing Camden it began to rain. All night long the 
water came down. We were thoroughly soaked, and 
could scarcely find a road. 

In one of our halts for the night I saw a lady and two 
children who had been out in the wet in a wagon without 
a cover, with only boards for a bed, and no sides, but 
drawn by a tolerably good horse. The lady looked the 
picture of despair. One child was in her arms, another 
at her feet, its face hidden in her lap. The train had 
halted, and other vehicles were pushing on her, yet she 
made no effort to get out of the way, but sat with the 
reins lying listless in her lap. A negro man of about 
fifty, strong and well built, was pushing his way through, 
dragging a mule ; he turned, saw the lady, went a few 
steps further, halted, then went back, and going up to 
the wagon, said : " Bress me. Miss Ann, be's this youse 
and the little chilers, tu ? " 

She looked at him, but made no answer. The child at 
her feet raised her face and said : 

" I am so cold and hungry, Uncle Dick," and began to cry. 

The man threw the mule's halter over his arm, seized 
the bridle of the horse, applied the whip, and with some 
exertion drew the wagon from the mud, where it had 
stuck, and drove it on one side in the bushes. 

" Don't cry, little miss, wait a bit, Uncle Dick will 
come back," he «=;aid, and starting off, he returned in a 
few moments wiHi some hard tack and salt pork, which 
he gave the children. The lady shook her head when 
he offered it to her. 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME, 343 

Going up to the negro, I asked him who they 
were. 

" My ole massa's daughter/* he said ; ^' she*s done lost 
her father, and her husband, and her brudder in dis war ; 
and she's got nuffin, and no one tu care for her ef Uncle 
Dick don't. Her house was burnt, her provender all took, 
and her niggers left her, but, please God, Uncle Dick 'ill 
do for her." 

I went to one of the officers, and told him what I had 
seen ; he gave me bread, meat and a blanket ; I begged 
some coffee and sugar from the men, got another blanket 
and went back. The old negro had gathered a quantity 
of moss and leaves, and laid them upon the boards of the 
wagon, and made a fire, at which he was holding the 
youngest child in his arms. He blessed me over and over 
when I gave him the food, spread one of the blankets 
carefully over the lady, who was now lying in the wagon, 
drew the other round the children, then untying an old, 
battered tin quart-cup from a string which held a motley 
collection of things on the mule's back, proceeded to 
make some coffee. 

^* Bress God, Miss Ann should have sumfin tu du her 
good." 

I went off, but silently promised myself to keep an eye 
on that old negro and his charge, and I did. My con- 
science told me I had not been faithful to an injunction 
solemnly given me by John. '^ Phil, you will have many 
opportunities of helping others on this march without its 
conflicting with your duty, for your own sake don't 
neglect one." 

The next day I saw '* Uncle Dick " with the mule and 
horse harnessed together in the wagon. He had made a 
rough seat in the wagon, over which he had put a frame- 
work of brushwood, and on this stretched one of the 



344 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

blankets, under which cover sat Miss Ann and the chil- 
dren, while he drove. 

I complimented him on the improvement. 

" Yes, massa,*' he replied with pride, " I was not in tother 
army for nnffin ; not gwyne tu be caught in the woods 
again wid not so much as a knife tu cut a stick ; tried him 
once wid de seceshes and liked tu perished. When Tse 
made up my mind to come, I'se put all my fixins together 
on de ole mule^s back." 

It rained terribly. If anything could have depressed 
the army the weather would. AVe could find no roads and 
the wagons could hardly get along at all ; they would 
stick fast, and the teamsters would swear and beat the 
horses and mules in a way it made one shudder to see. I 
often wondered that the soldiers were as humane and 
kind-hearted as they were, for they got accustomed to the 
suffering they saw constantly. 

At length we reached Camden, where a battle was 
fought in the Revolution. It was a pretty little place, and 
had an iron statue of some Indian chief in the market 
square. 

We continued on to Lynch Creek where we had a ter- 
rible time ; it rained in streams for three days and nights ; 
all the while the boys worked in the water, sometimes 
waist deep, to make the bridge. The enemy's cavalry at- 
tacked us several times, but was driven back. I was sick 
and kept in camp. As we crossed I saw an Irishman 
frightened almost into fits. The boys had become so ac- 
customed to snakes in the swamps, they did not mind 
them at all, but considered them a part of the ceremony. 
A don't-care backwoodsman trod on a long, greenish 
brown one, and, seizing it by the head and taking good 
aim, threw it over Paddy's shoulders. The first he knew 
of it, the slimy thing was round his neck. I never heard 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 345 

such shrieks of horror as the man gave, as he tried fran- 
tically to shake it off, his comrades laughing and shouting 
at him the while. At length one went to his assistance 
and threw it away ; the poor fellow was of an ash color. 
'* Sure," he said, " I'd rather been a prisoner with the 
rebel devils than had that thing on me." 

I could sympathize with him, for nothing gives me such 
a shuddering horror as the touch of a snake. He did not 
hear the last of that soon, for they joked him about it on 
all occasions. 

We kept on through rain and mud, building bridges 
over the swamps and streams, until the third of March, 
v/hen we reached the pretty little village of Cheraw on 
the great Pedee river. There we remained two days, cap- 
tured a great deal of ammunition, and, when we were 
about to leave, burned the pubUc buildings, business 
houses, etc. We had a terrible explosion there, caused 
by the blowing up of the powder magazine, and some of 
the refugees in our train were killed. The noise was ter- 
rific, the earth shook under our feet. 

At Cheraw I saw John, and right glad was I to be with 
him again. He gave me a history of what he had gone 
through since we parted, spoke of the men of the right 
wing in the highest terms ; no men could do more than 
they had done. He thought it best I should keep my horse 
and go on, as I had begun. I would rather have been with 
him, for I liked marching with '' our company " best, but 
he saw I was not very well. The wings kept close together 
now, and I could easily see him. 

After crossing the Great Pedee we were soon in North 
Carolina ; it rained all the time. The first place where 
we camped was at Laurel Hill. Leaving this we kept on 
towards Fayetteville, trying to reach there before the 
rebel army entered. We had to stop at night in a swamp, 



346 CA P TAIN PHIL, 

camp we could not ; the rain fell pitilessly, and the 
ground was covered with water. Some of the officers 
kept on horseback all night, sleeping there if they could. 
The train of poor people who followed us must have suf- 
fered every possible privation. I found a wagon stalled, 
and not quite full, and creeping into it slept well. 

The soldiers were kind to the people all along the way. 
^^ Stay your hand, we are in the North State now,'* they 
would say. The country was miserable, interminable 
pine forests after you left the swamps. The people 
seemed very poor, and were sickly looking. 

The rebel cavalry and ours had a battle just before we 
reached Fayetteville, but General Kilpatrick drove them 
after a hard fight with great loss through the streets of 
Fayetteville, and beyond to the river, and our army took 
possession of this poor little place. General Sherman 
had his quarters at the United States Arsenal, which was 
a magnificent building, but was destroyed when we left. 
The whole army brought up at Fayetteville, and lay 
camped around it. There the eyes and hearts of the 
men were gladdened by the sight of the tug Davidson, 
which came up the river with dispatches to General Sher- 
man. When they saw her they cheered and cheered 
again, until hoarse with hurrahing, and many of them 
cried. It was hearing from home. 

I wish some of our stay at home boys, who think an 
army must be all glare and glitter, fuss and feathers, who 
read in the papers of General Sherman's Grand Army, 
and pictured it going through the pine forests and dismal 
swamps, with music playing and banners flying and bright 
blue uniforms, could have seen it entering Fayetteville. 
In the first place an army does not always have music to 
march by, and on this campaign they had only the " stir- 
ring drum " on occasions. Then they did not go tramp, 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 347 

tramp through the forests and make their way through 
swamps, removing barricades with a gun in one hand, a 
hatchet in the other, with the flag unfurled — if they had, 
in all probability it would have trailed in swampy mud. 
It was only when they entered a place like Columbia, or 
wished to make a display for some purpose, that they gave 
every banner to the breeze and let the rebels read Vicks- 
burg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta and Savannah 
on their torn folds. 

Many of them were barefooted ; they had plunged in 
mud, worked in water, and marched over the sands of 
the high lands without shoes. They were ragged and 
their clothes were grimed with mud and discolored with 
stains of a darker hue. No longer Boys in Blue, they wore 
clothes of any color and fashion ; here and there you 
might see a swallow-tailed or frock coat of the finest 
quality, its fit showing the wearer had not been measured 
for it, mixed with garments of the coarsest homespun 
made in the strangest fashions and worn-out officers* coats, 
while suits of rebel gray and butternut cloth abounded. 

The greatest scarcity seemed to be in trowsers ; all were 
torn ; some came but to the knees, others did not come 
so far ; some men had none at all, and marched in their 
drawers. The head coverings were as varied as the 
clothes — military caps, oil skin caps, cloth caps, black, 
blue, gray and brown^ with fronts and without fronts, 
soft hats and straw hats, high crowned and low crowned, 
some with no crowns, others with no brims. Some carried 
patchwork quilts, blanket shawls, or squares of Brussels 
carpets for blankets, while others had them of the finest 
and costliest wool, and others again had those which were 
supplied to the army. One man would pass with a pet 
coon on his back, or a cat, or a bird ; another would 
have some household article for his comfort or conve- 



34^ CAPTAIN PHIL. 

nience — it might be a pot or a chair. Following these 
could be seen the poor miserable mules, mud bespattered^ 
with their hair matted together, and laden with pots, pans, 
kettles, dishes, chairs, shovels, spades, picks, axes and 
hoes. 

" Don't you think I would cut a figure in Miss G 's 

drawing-room, Phil ? " said Kiler, standing before me, his 
arms akimbo. ''' Would not she turn up her aristocratic 
nose at the sight ? See my hands " — he held them out — 
^' brown, scratched, hard and warty, and my ^ pedestrian 
digits,' " he stuck out first one foot, then another ; they 
were cased in what had once been expensive alligator 
hide boots, now broken and worn, his bare toes protrud- 
ing, " and these pants, and this blouse, and this beard, 
and hair," passing his hand over them. '^ I could make 
my fortune sitting to artists for a ^ rough.' I think it an 
outrage to have no photographer here to take the ' Grand 
Army ' just as it is ; people at home will never believe we 
looked as we do." 

On the morning of the 14th of March we left Fayette- 
ville en route for Goldsboro'. The left wing had a battle 
with Hardee on Black River, at Averysboro', on the i6th, 
and defeated them with great loss to him and consider- 
able to ourselves. I heard some of the men describe the 
part they had in the fight. The enemy's works were in a 
pine forest, and our boys took to the trees, Indian fash- 
ion, the trunks affording them fine protection from the 
balls. It was a bloody battle fought in the rain with the 
mud ankle deep. The enemy made off in the night, leav- 
ing dead, wounded and dying behind them. John was in 
the battle, and had his arm grazed by a bullet. I saw a 
detachment from General Kilpatrick's cavalry come back 
from the field, and each man carried a dead comrade be- 
fore him on his saddle. 




A FIGURE.' 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 349 

Crossing Black River we kept on as well as the roads 
would let us, but they were dreadful, all swamp and 
morass. I came very near leaving myself in a North 
Carolina swamp. I had taken to horseback again, and 
wanting to get to John's side, took a short cut through a 
pine wood which edged a swamp. I felt myself sinking, 
my horse floundered and tried to get loose, and looking 
round I saw I was in a quicksand ; fortunately a couple 
of the boys came to my assistance, and I got out and 
did not trust that treacherous green-looking earth again. 

About the 19th, when we were near the pretty little 
town of Bentonville. in Johnston County, a report came 
from the front that the enem^y were in force and well 
fortified, our foragers had been skirmishing with them. 
Then and there began the battle of Bentonville, the last 
battle fought by Sherman's army ; I cannot tell anything 
about it. I only know that I was in it ; that we whipped 
the rebels handsomely ; that, as usual, they departed 
during the night ; and that Kiler saved my life. 

The fight began on Sunday, the rebels fought long and 
well, but the rest of the army marched all day and night, 
and came to our aid. We were in the Pine Woods. I 
did not know anything, except that the enemy was be- 
fore us ; all was confusion around. I did not know what 
any one else was doing ; I only know I wished to kill 
rebels, and was doing all I could, when suddenly I was 
jerked to the ground ; a bullet whizzed where my head 
had been, and I heard Kiler, who stood over me, say : 

"I gave him as good as he sent.'* 

" ^ Some in rags, some in tags, some in velvet gowns,' " 
I heard a veteran singing as we were on the road to 
Goldsboro' again. " I tell you what it is, Jim, I have 
heard of an army fighting in armor, but I never before 
heard of an army fighting in drawers." Hundreds of our 



1^ 



350 CAPTAIN PHIL, 

army had no shoes, and one-twelfth of them no 
trowsers. 

"If I was a Johnny," he continued, " I should not like 
to be whipped by a man in his drawers." 

" They couldn't help it, they did their best. I tell you 
what it is, when Uncle Sam is in the right, he cannot be 
beat ; they fought like tigers." 

General Scofield's army was atGoldsboro' and the men 
swarmed out to meet their old comrades. Such singing 
and dancing, hurrahing, shouting, and clapping of hands 
as they made. They rushed at and hugged each other in 
their enthusiasm. The flags waved, the bands played, 
the batteries thundered in welcome. Late in the night 
groups sat about the camp fires, telling each other what 
they had gone through, and inquiring for this and that 
comrade, who rested beneath the sward of Georgia or 
the Carolinas. 

At Goldsboro' we went into camp to rest and wait for 
supplies of food and clothing. There was some laughter 
at the appearance of the men as they filed in review before 
Generals Sherman, Slocum and Schofield, with their free, 
don't care air and heterogeneous accoutrements, but it 
was reported General Sherman said, " He did not care 
what they carried, so they carried plenty of ammunition." 

"Yes," said one. " The old Tycoon tells us what he 
wants done. He knows we will do it, and he don*t fuss 
to have it done by the regulations. If he did he never 
would have got through Georgia." 

Goldsboro' is a pretty place, with a handsome Court- 
house, Hotel, Academy and other public buildings. We 
stayed around it until the loth of April ; the men made 
themselves at home ; some of them to while away time and 
make a little money, turned peddlers and sold tobacco, 
coffee and other things in the streets, driving quite a trade. 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME. 351 

Finally the army was again equipped and on the road to 
Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. ^' The Great 
Flanker " was chasing the '' Great Retreater." The roads 
were dreadful, and had most of the way to be cordu- 
royed, but the country was cleared and we saw fine farms 
and good houses. 

On the 12th the news came that General Lee had sur- 
rendered. The men were crazy with joy when it was 
announced. Their shouts were deafening. They leaped 
and danced, and embraced and swung each other round 
in the wildest way ; threw their hats in the air and spread 
their banners and had their bands playing. 

Reaching Raleigh the army marched through the city 
in front of the State House, where Generals Sherman, 
Howard and Logan were posted. 

It began to be whispered that General Johnston was ne- 
gotiating with General Sherman for the surrender of the 
rebel army ; meantime there was a truce, and during this 
all were horrified by the intelligence of Mr. Lincoln's 
murder. 

The troops received it as if every man had lost a near 
relation. They did not want peace now ; they would not 
have it. What they wished was to be led against John- 
ston, and they told their officers so. Vengeance they 
wanted. Vengeance. " Oh ! " said a cavalryman, ^^ if I 
only had the leaders of the rebellion here," he ground 
his iron heel in the earth, " I could crush the life out of 
them." 

*^ I hope," said another, *^ I may never see wife or child 
again if I ever, spare a rebel," and the tears dropped from 
his bearded chin. All was gloom. 

" He was ours, and we loved him," said a gray-bearded 
old man from Illinois. "' Pray God He keep our hearts 
right, and let us have malice to none." 



352 CAPTA IiV PHIL. 

For my part, I just leaned my head against John and 
cried. I thought of the time when I had seen him at the 
White House, when he laid his hand upon my head and 
said: '^ You look like a brave one." I put my hand 
where his had been and felt so proud his had been there. 

John told me he thought those words of Mr Lincoln's 
in his message, when he spoke of having malice to none, 
had done much to calm the men. At least he found it so, 
in quoting them to men of his command; but if there had 
been a battle after this news, the slaughter would have 
been terrible. The poor negroes looked utterly misera- 
ble. One could see the white streaks made by the tears 
on their cheeks. Some of them held a prayer meeting, 
and I never heard anything as touching, as the way 
they sang amid their sobs : '^ Take us to Abraham's 
bosom." 

Our camps were around Raleigh, which was filled with 
our soldiers. It has beautifully shaded streets, fine gar- 
dens and good public buildings. Fearing an outbreak 
when the army should hear of Mr. Lincoln's death, large 
detachments were ordered to the city. The weather was 
fine, the flowers in bloom, the trees green, and here, where 
no plundering was allowed, we waited for peace, and 
peace came in Johnston's surrender. Yet, though the 
men longed for peace, they were ready to go on with 
the war, and when the truce expired, and the word 
^^ forward" came, they marched with alacrity over roads 
such as we never saw North, and through rain from which 
we would be careful to shelter our cattle. When orders 
met them to retrace their steps and go into camp again, 
they knew it was peace, and with many a ^^ hurrah for 
Billy ; he's all right ! " they turned their backs upon the 
enemy for the first time in the campaign. 

It was funny to hear the Bummers bemoaning the peace 



THE CAROLIXAS—HOME, 353 

prospect. ''To think/' said one, "I cannot take a man's 
horse when I want it." 

"Yes," said another, '' and instead of helping myself to 
the best a house affords if I wish it, and then burning it 
over the owner's head because he had nothing better to 
give, I shall have to wait at the door, hat in hand, and be 
thankful for any crust he Vv'ill throw me." He cut a 
caper and burst out with '' AVhen this cruel war is over." 

" I'll tell you what ; it's my opinion," said a squirrel 
shooter from Ohio, " a good many of you will be guests 
of the State before you are a month out of this. You've 
had your hand in too long, and stealing will come natural.'^ 

" O, you dry up; you are only jea'ous ; Sherman's 
Bummers and their deeds will be remembered long after 
you are forgotten. We shall be the bug-bears for the 
children and grandchildren of future generations." 

The surrender was proclaimed to the army, then the 
07ie thought was to get home. 

I went about a little to take a look at things. John told 
me to go down and see Bennet's house, where Generals 
Shernican and Johnston had met to talk of terms, as it 
would be historical. It was on the railroad, about three 
miles from Durham, half-way between the picket lines of 
the two armies. It was a small one story frame building 
with a few trees around it. The house below consisted of 
but one good sized room, which held a bed, table and 
chairs ; the walls were bare, the floor bare. There was 
a covered stairway in the room, running to a half- story 
above. 

We started for home, impatient, joyous ; the people mev 
us with shout and gladness. Ruin no longer was in our 
track. We passed through Richmond ; the men were 
eager to see Libby prison and Castle Thunder — where 
so many of their comrades had suffered martyrdom. 
23 



354 CAP TAIN PHIL. 

Reaching the battle fields of the army of the Potomac, 
shout after shout went up — one brave army acknowledgmg 
the deeds of the other. 

Keeping on, the spires of Alexandria and Washington 
were seen in the distance. Four years before some of us, 
fugitives, in mud and rain, worn in body and almost 
crushed in spirit, had wearily trodden that road — O, but we 
remembered it now ! I strode closer to John, and looked 
in his face and he understood me, and smiled. ^' You 
were a boy then, Phil," he said, ^' you are almost a m.an 
now ! " 

"See." I pointed to my little flag, in shreds, but 
blazoned all over with our victories. " I had hoped to 
have given this to Mr. Lincoln," my voice was husky, John 
took mv hand, and squeezed it : " It is the sting that is 
in every thing here, Phil." 

Then followed the review — there was no sting in that 
to me — I thought not how blood-bought had been our 
victories. It was all joy — triumph. 

I went into Washington and with Mrs. Leavit saw the 
glorious army of the Potomac pass in review, saw the 
people almost worshiping those heroes, while shouts of 
gratitude filled the air — I thought I could not feel 
prouder. 

But the next day — when General Sherman's army 
passed by also, and I with them — my cup was full, I was 
a part of it — an atom — but yet a part. 

When I saw Generals Howard and Slocum and Logan, 
and " Little Kill," our noble good Governor Dennison, 
Senator Wilson, and our gallant commander in Virginia, 
General Benham, I felt at home. When I read Vicks- 
burg and Shiloh, Stone River and Chickamauga, 
and saw among all, and high above all, " The poor officer 
with the large family," and heard the acclamations that 



THE CAROLINA S— HOME, 355 

rent the air, I felt a hero among heroes. I waved my flag 
and looked at the bronzed faces round me, and thanked 
God I had been permitted to be with Sherman's army. 

I sat one night during that summer in Mrs. Leavit's 
parlor, and marked John's quiet modest manner, and as 
she talked in her enthusiastic way of our victories, I 
heard him repeat softly : 

** Not with Te Deums loud and high Hosannas, 
Greet we the awful victory we have won, 
But with our arms reversed and lowered banners 
We stand — Our work is done ! 

******* 
At whose defeat we may not raise our voice 
Save in the deep thanksgiving of our prayers. 
Lord, we have fought the fight. But to rejoice 
Is curs no more than theirs." 



THE END. 



14 



CHAMPLIN'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG FOLKS. 

"AN INVALUABLE ADDITION TO THE SCHOOL 
LIBRARY.' '-Baltimore Gazette. 

TO PAHENTS: 

YOUNG FOLKS' CYCLOPAEDIA OF COMMON THIN&S. 

Large 12it!0, pp. 690, with a very full index, S3. 

The writer has attempted to furnish in simple language, aided by 
pictorial illustrations, where thought necessary, a knowledge of 
things in Nature, Science, and the Arts which are apt to awaken a 
child's curiosit3^ Such features of Astronomy, Chemistry, Pnysics, 
Natural History, and Physiology as can easily be made intelligible 
are explained, special attention being given to the natural objects 
which most immediateh' affect human happiness — such as air, iig^ t, 
heat, and electricity, and those parts of the human system whose 
health is influenced by our habits. Much attention has been given, 
too, to explanation of the manufacture of articles in common use, 
and to all the animals interesting from their domestic relation or as 
objects of curiosity. 

The arrangement is the same as in the cyclopaedias for adults, as 
the work is but a stepping-stone to them, and it is deemed of impor- 
tance to accustom the child early to the forms and methods w hicii ex- 
perience has showm to be the best. 

What prominent Journals say of it: 

children meet for lessons and reading."' 
—Bistt'U Advertise?'. 

"Teaohers and parents should see 
that this c\cl(>p£edia is in every libraiy 
where children can have access to it."' 
— .Y. E. Journal of Education. 

* ' Clearly printed nnd freoly illnstiTited 
with woodcuts. The di finitions and 
(descriptions are careftillv accommodated 
both as regards length find clearness, to 
the childi>h mind. The corjpiler more 
or lesT cunscionsiy pla3 s tue part of a 
u-ise parent who is not restrained from 
enlive; ir g his instruction with poetry 
(as in the case of Tennyson and the 
dragon-fly) and w th familiar aiipcdotes, 
of which 1 he index contains an inpos- 
iuij alphabetic grou]nng. There can be 
no doubt t' at the ordinary cycloppe'ia 
repels the chil<i by its fulne^s an 1 
te"hr.ical <»bscnrity; and sucli an ab- 
stract as this ought, as the compiler 
anticipates, to cultiva e the habit of 
reference, besides saving ran nts the 
mo! tification «f havin^ questions ]nt 
to them which they are unable to an- 
swer . ' " — Ttie JS'a i io n . 



"It is a thoroughly excellent thing, 
thoroughly well done, and there can be 
no doubt whatever that in every house- 
hold into which it shall come the book 
will go far to educate children in that 
skillful and profitable use of books 
which distinguishes scholarly book- 
owners from those who are not scholars. 
. . . In every way, therefore, w"e 
regard the publication of this ■ Young 
Folk-'' Cyclopaedia' as an occasion of 
rejoii'ing. and in the interest of educa- 
tion we commend it w^th all possible 
earnes ness to every parent." — N. Y. 
Evening Fobt. 

" Just to test the quality and to see 
whether those for whom it was made 
would care for it, the writer left this 
book on the study table, about which 
th se children gather. There was a 
fight for this cyclopaedia every night 
until parental authority decided 'thir- 
teen years' should read it aloud. On 
the other ^ide, time an.i again, has the 
parent ponted to this invaluable bouk. 
To the parent it is a b on, to the child 
a blessing."— Ci'/c/zj/^a^i Tinu-s. 

'• An occasional pertinent anecdote is 
introduced, Kn<l a bit of f Ik-lore is not 
rejected. The int^re-t i- c ntinudly 
aroused. The work will fill a giploT^g 
vacant. Should be paced wherever 



" The book will be as valuable as a 
small library to any y. ung person. " 
— Titdependtnt. 

'■A very successful embodiment of a 
very excellent plan The 

[over]. 



illustrations are numerous and excel- 
lent. . . The information is accurately 
and judiciously given, and not 'young 
folks' only, but many adults will find 
the book constantly useful." — Literary 
World. 

"A fountain of instrm tion and en- 
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World. 

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' ' G-rown folks, judging by the average 
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so clear and sensible, that every young 

The ^'Cyclopaedia of Common 

■:z"oxj3sra- 



reader and student of ordinary intelli. 
gence will comprehend it. The pos* 
Fession of such a book by a youth of in- 
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liberal education." — Phila. Bulletin. 

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youi'g, we are much mistaken if it does 
not become a favorite book with all in 
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— Hartford Courant. 

" The practice of consulting a work 
of this kind wotild greatly tend to 
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memory with a store of instructive and 
valuable facts. ... A model of 
construction and arrangement. . . . 
The facility of using the work to ad- 
vantage is greatly assisted by the indis- 
pensable appendage of a copious and 
accurate index." — N. Y. IVibuve. 

Things " was followed by the 



CYCLOPEDIA OF PEESONS AKD PLACES. 

Large 12mo, pp. 956, with a very full index, $3.50. 
The Press speaks of it as follows : 



"When the former work appeared 
we gave to it the heartiest and most 
cordial approval, fount iing our judg- 
ment upon a somewhat th rougli ex- 
amination of the scheme, and of the 
manner of its execuiion. . . . We 
have no occasion to hesitate in forming 
a like opinion of Mr. Champlin's second 
cyclopsedia. . . . Th.s opinion, 
founded as it was solely upon an ex- 
amination of the book with reference 
to the known characteristics of child- 
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more than confirmed, by observation of 
the use actually made of the cyclopaedia 
by lads and young maidens v>ho are its 
owneis. We know copies of the wo]k 
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reading intently articles of Mhich they 
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tainment in exhaustless quaiitiiies," 
JV. V, Eveni)ig Post, 



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"Opens a new world to the young, 
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'• It makes use of the last census, and 
it embodies the recent discoveries of 
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"A book of to-day. ... An in- 
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HENRY HOLT & Co., Publishers, 

NEW TOBK. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




